PSI - Issue 73

Pavel Dobeš et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 73 (2025) 1–8 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2025) 000–000

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Fig. 1. Geometry of a wall panel: a) vertically oriented OSB boards; b) horizontally oriented OSB boards (Lokaj et al. 2023).

All materials were conditioned in a standard environment at (20 ± 2) °C and (65 ± 5) % relative humidity. The mean density of C24 structural timber was 435 kg/m 3 , the mean density of OSB sheathing was 620 kg/m 3 . The moisture content of the used timber materials was around 12 %. The geometry of the wall panels, their profiles and materials, and the assembly methods were chosen based on requirements and habits of construction practice. 2.2. Experimental determination of horizontal load-carrying capacity and stiffness of wall panels An auxiliary external steel structure was designed, manufactured and assembled for the experimental testing of the wall panels (see Fig. 2). The steel structure consisted of two parallel, interconnected frames, formed by a system of vertical and horizontal HEA profiles with diagonal rods made of L profiles. The structure was also equipped with a stiffened steel cross element just below the upper corner, providing an area for the placement and anchoring of the test device. The connections between the steel elements were designed as bolted. All steel structures were made of structural steel S235J0. The steel structure was anchored to an eight-ton reinforced concrete beam. This anchoring was realized at six different locations (in the area of the bottom horizontal plates near the vertical studs) using a steel connector and three M12 8.8 threaded rods with the HILTI HVU2 chemical anchor. The tested wall panels were inserted between the two parallel steel frames on a laminated veneer lumber (LVL) plank with a width of 300 mm and thickness of 40 mm, which was anchored to the reinforced concrete beam with numerous SFS Intec fasteners for timber-concrete connections. The densest concentration of SFS fasteners was placed in the area of the expected highest tensile stress. The bottom horizontal plate was attached to the LVL plank using forty-eight (six screws in each space between the studs) VGZ Rothoblaas fully threaded screws for timber structures. The first pulled stud of the panel was additionally provided with a tie-down anchor (L-shaped steel connector with stiffeners), which was anchored to the reinforced concrete beam using one M20 8.8 threaded rod and HILTI HVU2 chemical anchor. The tie-down anchor was connected to the first stud using fourteen KOP screws with hexagon head M12 8.8.