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•Racking tests of light-frame-timber panels (LFTP) with cement-particle-boards (CPB).•Monotonic and cyclic tests of CPB-to-timber connections with metal staples.•Variation of staple ...spacing distance and CPB thickness (also asymmetrical layout).•Ductile failure of the CPB-to-timber connections in lateral loading of the panels.•Increased number of staples non-proportionally increases lateral resistance of LFTP.
Due to their comparable fire characteristics and surface preparation, light-frame timber panels using cement-particle boards (CPB) as a sheathing material present a potential alternative to gypsum-fibre boards. An experimental campaign was conducted to evaluate the behaviour of CPB light-frame-timber panels under in-plane lateral loading. Monotonic and cyclic in-plane shear tests were conducted on full-size panels, following preceding tests on the stapled sheathing-to-timber connections used in the panels. The influence of the boards’ thickness and staple geometry on the response of connections and panels was studied, also on panels with an asymmetrical CPB layout, which proved not to have a negative influence on the panels’ lateral load-bearing capacity. Furthermore, in order to improve the seismic response, panels, which had almost twice the number of staples compared to the basic panel, were tested; one variation with two rows of staples, and the other with the staples spaced closer together, such that the spacing distance was halved. The tests revealed a significant, though not proportional, increase in lateral resistance in the strengthened panels. Fastening the CPB with two rows of staples proved the better option, since subsequent failure of the CPB along the connections, as opposed to ductile failure of the staples in the basic panels, proved not to reduce the panels’ deformation capacity. The paper also compares the test results of the connections and panels to analytical results according to Eurocode 5 (EC5), the European code provision for the design of timber structures.
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