Design of the profiles used in cross laminated timber walls to foundation connection

Wood is a material, which we have been using in our buildings for ages. In parallel with fast-growing wood technology and industrial forestry, the use of wood has increasingly continued in recent years around the world. CLT (Cross Laminated Timber), an industrial wood material, allows construction of high-rise buildings and cover long spans as well as provides resistance to earthquake. It has been revealed in literature research that high-rise buildings, which were made of CLT, display a very good performance against earthquake load while problems arose in foundation connection profiles. The study which has been carried out in this regard consists of 3 stages. In the first stage, a literature review was made. Afterwards, metal connection profiles were designed for CLT walls and foundation. Finally the designed profiles were tested by means of the lateral load experimental set up. For the tests, spruce tree was used. 4 CLT walls, each of which was 3-layer, were built and 5 metal connection profiles with different dimensions were produced. The CLT walls and foundation connection profiles were tested in 6 different detail choices according to ASTM E 72 standards. The results indicate that some of the CLT walls and metal profiles delivered a good performance in terms of maximum strength, displacement, and value of the rigidity. Based on these results, it has been confirmed that CLT materials put up resistance to lateral earthquake load and that elasticity of wood can extend the period of building collapse in case of earthquake.