The Natural Hazard Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Tall Wood Project is a National Science Foundation-funded research effort to develop and validate a resilient-based seismic design methodology for tall wood buildings. On May 9, 2023, the NHERI research coalition tested a 10-story mass timber structure on a shake table at University of California, San Diego—the largest full-scale building to be tested on an earthquake simulator. The tests simulated two, previously recorded earthquakes: the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake, measuring magnitude-6.7, and the 1999 earthquake in Chi-Chi, Taiwan, measuring magnitude-7.7.
The design is distinguished by a wood rocking wall system which allows the structure to rock and recenter itself during an earthquake, with no damage to the primary structural system. The concept creates a resilient and repairable solution; avoiding the need to tear down a building following an earthquake. This collaborative research and testing effort promises to pave the way for changes in building codes for residential and commercial structures that could lead to wider adoption of mass timber.
