Numerical simulation study and damage analysis of cross laminated timber connections

Due to structural redundancy,strong energy absorption and energy dissipation capacity of nail joints,wood buildings behave good seismic performance in earthquakes. Cross laminated timber is a new generation of engineered wood-based product. Based on tests of three kinds of cross laminated timber connections,Pinching4 model in Open Sees as a user-defined element is applied to simulate the hysteresis response of the connections,which is highly nonlinear,strength degradation,stiffness degradation,and pinching. The primary and follower half-cycle energy damage model is used for damage quantitative analysis of the connections,and the damage factor ranges corresponding to five damage levels of cross laminated timber connections are given in this article. The study shows that good simulation results are obtained and it is also illustrated that Pinching4 model is valid and feasible to predict the hysteretic response of wood connections. Different damage factors responding to varied damage degrees are consistent with the experimental rules. The dispersion degrees of the damage factors are relatively low with the mean values in the reasonable ranges.