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Experimental Study of Glued Laminated Guadua Bamboo Panel as an Alternative Shear Wall Sheathing Material

Wood frame buildings have shown good performance on past earthquakes mainly because the lateral system of those buildings was able to dissipate energy without significant loss of lateral capacity. Typically, the lateral load resisting system is provided by wood shear walls, which consist of a wood frame sheathed with wood or wood-based composites, such as Plywood or OSB panels. Taking into account the increasing forest demand for wood, there is a global need to find alternative energy-efficient, renewable and eco-friendly construction materials. Giant bamboo like Guadua Angustifolia kunt emerges as an interesting construction material, since it has a fast growing rate (3 to 4 years), high strength to weight ratio and high carbon (CO2) capture capabilities. Results of a past study conducted at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá-Colombia reported that Glued Laminated Guadua Bamboo (GLG) has mechanical properties comparable to those of the best structural timbers in Colombia. Potential applications of GLG include not only laminated beams and columns, but also structural panels to be used as a sheathing material for wood frame shear walls. A comprehensive experimental study has been performed on GLG sheathed shear walls in order to find an alternative sheathing material for wood frame buildings as well as to explore their possible application for residential and/or commercial construction in Colombia. A series of tests were conducted on full-size shear wall specimens in order to study the influence of the wall aspect ratio and the edge nail spacing on the shear wall performance. Based on cyclic tests on shear walls, it was found that the stiffness and maximum load carrying capacity of the wall increases as edge nail spacing decreases. In contrast, the displacement ductility capacity decreases, since the rotation of the panels is restricted when the edge nail spacing is reduced. Experimental results also revealed that stiffness, maximum load capacity, and ductility of the GLG sheathed shear walls are not affected by the aspect ratio of the wall. The final stage of the present study included dynamic shake-table tests on full-size one and two-story housing units using GLG sheathed shear walls. Results showed that the units had similar performance characteristics to those of OSB and Plywood sheathed shear walls, and it was concluded that wood-GLG combination could be a viable construction alternative from a structural point of view.