Effect of roof to wall connection stiffness variations on the load sharing and hold-down forces of Australian timber-framed houses

Abstract

Roof to wall connections (RWCs) play a major role in wind load sharing and load transfer of timber-framed houses. The lack of coherence in the load sharing and load transfer can cause premature failure of timber-framed houses. Thus, it is essential to provide RWCs with adequate strength and stiffness, to ensure the dynamic roof wind loads are adequately shared and transferred through the structural system to the foundations. Typical construction defects in RWCs (i.e. missing nails) reduce the stiffness of the RWCs, introducing discontinuities in load paths, contributing to total roof failure under windstorms. This study combines realistic spatially and temporally varying wind loads, captured..