Development of timber buckling restrained braces for mass timber braced frames

Buckling Restrained Brace Frames (BRBF) are a proven and reliable method to provide an efficient lateral force resisting system for new and existing structures in earthquake prone regions. The fuse-type elements in this system facilitate stable energy dissipation at large load deformation levels. Currently, the new trend towards mass timber vertical structures creates a need for a lightweight compatible lateral force resisting system. A Buckling Restrained Brace (BRB) component is possible to construct and feasible to implement when combining a steel core with a mass timber casing herein named the Timber-Buckling Restrained Brace (T-BRB). T-BRBs when combined with mass timber beam and column elements can create a system that will have advantages over the current steel framed BRBF system when considering recyclability, sustainability, framing compatibility, and performance. This paper presents findings on small scale testing of candidate engineered wood products for the T-BRB casing and testing of six full scale 12 ft long 60 kip braces according to code prescribed loading protocols and acceptance criteria.