Dynamic Response of Tall Timber Buildings under Service Load

Timber engineering is a growing area that handles important environmental challenges and can contribute to circular economy initiatives in the construction industry. Tall Timber Buildings offer the possibility of maximizing the use of land. One of the challenges of building high in a light material such as timber is vibrations caused by wind load, which controls the design of these buildings, in terms of size, shape and mass. This requires more knowledge about dynamic properties for high light-weight buildings, especially regarding natural frequency and damping properties. An important issue will be stiffness and damping in Connections but also properties of non-load bearing parts of the structure.

The aim of this research project is to develop knowledge and reliable models to help designers and building system developers to predict the dynamic performance of tall buildings in timber during wind loads.

The project is divided into five work packages with the aim of:

• Quantify the structural damping in already built tall timber buildings
• Identify and quantify the effects of Connections and non-structural elements on stiffness, damping and wind-induced dynamic response.
• Develop a numerical FE model to estimate the dynamic response of tall timber buildings
• Validate the response with in situ measurements on TTB

The result will be disseminated via a Design Guide on tall buildings in timber.