Seismic Modeling of Index Woodframe Buildings

The main objective of this research is to develop numerical models for deterministic nonlinear time-history analyses of four index woodframe buildings under various earthquake ground motions. These index buildings are prototypical buildings developed by the CUREE-Caltech Woodframe Project for use in loss estimation and benefit-to-cost ratio analysis. These numerical models will be used for the analysis conducted by the Subcontractor of Task 4.1 (Improving Loss Estimation for Woodframe Buildings) of the CUREE-Caltech Woodframe project in order to improve the loss estimation methods for woodframe buildins.

The three-dimensional nonlinear seismic analysis model considered is the pancake model that was developed under Task 1.1.1 (Shake Table Test of a Two-Story Single-Family House) of the CUREE-Caltech Woodframe Project. The pancake model simulates the three-dimensional seismic response of a woodframe construction through a degenerated two-dimensional planar analysis. The general-purpose computer program RUAUMOKO is used to construct the pancake model of each index building. The required input parameters for wood shear walls, stucco walls, cripple walls, and gypsum walls in a three-dimensional woddframe structure (using the Wayne Stewart Hysteric Model, available within RUAUMOKO) is obtained either from the specialized computer platform CASHEW: Cyclic Analysis of wood SHEar Walls, developed as part of Task 1.5.1 of the CUREE-Caltech Woodframe Project, or from available experimental data.