Dynamic Response of Tall Timber Buildings under Service Load

The project has been successfully completed and has contributed new knowledge about the dynamic properties of tall timber buildings in Europe. Timber construction is a growing field that addresses important environmental challenges and supports initiatives for a circular economy in the building sector. Tall timber buildings enable efficient land use, but one of the main challenges when building tall with a lightweight material such as timber is vibrations caused by wind loading. These vibrations influence the design of buildings in terms of size, shape, and weight. The project therefore focused on improving knowledge of dynamic properties, particularly natural frequencies and damping characteristics, as well as stiffness and damping in joints and the properties of non-load-bearing components.

Through five work packages, the project has:

• Quantified structural damping in existing tall timber buildings.
• Identified and quantified the effects of connections and non-structural elements on stiffness, damping, and wind-induced dynamic response.
• Developed numerical FE models to estimate the dynamic response of tall timber buildings.
• Validated these models through in-situ measurements on TTB.
• Compiled the results in a Design Guide for Tall Timber Buildings.

The results have been published in several scientific articles and provide an important foundation for designers and building system developers when designing tall timber buildings. The project has thus established reliable models for predicting the dynamic performance of tall timber buildings under wind loading.