FGIA Annual Conference Participants Tour Seismic Shake Table Test Site
More than 40 Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) members had the opportunity to tour a one-of-a-kind seismic shake table test site as part of the FGIA 2023 Annual Conference. The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood Project shake table test will take place in the San Diego area, just miles away from where the conference was held in Coronado, California. Those on the tour were able to see outside, inside and beneath the structure built on top of the shake table. At 10 stories tall, this is the largest test of its kind, and its construction is nearly complete.
“My team is leading an effort to test exterior facades as part of a test of a 10-story timber building,” said Dr. Keri Ryan, University of Nevada, Reno, who is a co-investigator of the project, which began in 2016. The shake table facility completed a multi-year upgrade last spring, to extend the shaking capabilities from one direction to three axis translation and rotation. The construction of the building itself started in July. “We designed and will test a 10-story building with mass timber products. The main focus is its seismic resilient timber rocking walls, built with massive timber panels.”
Two FGIA members donated windows to the project: Winco Window Company (https://wincowindow.com/) and Innotech Windows + Doors (https://www.innotech-windows.com/). Ryan said she and her research team anticipate the building can go through large earthquakes with very little damage. The exterior façade is made up of four sub-assemblies at the base of the building, all of which are attached to the main wood frame structure. The first three sub-assemblies feature cold-formed steel (CFS) framing with exterior aluminum composite (ACM) finish and windows, while the fourth is a curtain wall. All are detailed for drift compatibility, by providing horizontal and vertical joints. “None of this has been tested in this way before,” said Ryan.