Earthquakes have caused many disasters along with multiple casualties throughout
history. Nevertheless, as science has evolved and a better understanding of the nature
of earthquakes has been achieved, new methods of designing building have developed.
Human safety has always been and is the biggest concern, and that is what makes
seismic design so important when designing any building.
Earthquake Engineering is going to be the first topic addressed in this thesis, spanning
from the most basic seismic concepts to how a seismic equivalent force is applied to any
building. Plate tectonics theory is briefly explained as well as the significance of the
Richter scale. These are general seismic concepts that can be omitted for structural
design purposes but convenient to know and understand.
The biggest focus on the Earthquake Engineering chapter is explaining the
fundamentals of structural dynamics and how this leads to the seismic equations
provided by current codes. The different degrees of structural dynamics complexity are
exposed and commented on (linear vs non-linear) and a thorough explanation of all the
different factors taken into consideration by current codes are explained in this section.
The expected substantial growth of the world’s population calls for a wise use of our
resources when it comes down to building structures. Wood is a renewable material and
the best option from an environmental point of view, which is why special attention to its
structural and environmental properties should be paid. This thought brings us to the next core section of this thesis, which is wood engineering.
This section starts explaining the very basic properties of wood and how they are taken
advantage of in wood engineering. The two most basic types of wood products, which
are sawn lumber and Glulams, are analyzed. Their fabrication processes, as well as
their grades, species types and adjustment factors for structural design are going to be
investigated.
The last core section is the Case Study. All of the concepts and ideas exposed up to this
point are combined together in a one story framed wood building. The main gravity wood
members are designed using the principles exposed in the wood engineering section.
The last part of the Case Study focuses on the first core chapter, which is Earthquake
Engineering; a seismic analysis based on the principles and methods explained in this
chapter is performed. All of the results are well documented and analyzed.
The thesis ends providing a list of conclusions commenting on the most important
aspects that have been learned. Special attention is given to the importance of having a good understanding of how seismic analysis works and to learn how we can use wood in
applications where we would typically use concrete or steel as our structural resistant
material
