Browsing by Author "Liel A.B."

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    Potential for mitigating hurricane wind impact on informally-constructed homes in Puerto Rico under current and future climate scenarios
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Valdivieso Cascante, Diego Nicolas; Goldwyn B.; Liel A.B.; Javernick-Will A.; López-garcia González, Diego; Guindos P.
    © 2024 Elsevier LtdThis study investigates the resilience of informally-constructed light-frame timber houses in Puerto Rico, a region where households with limited resources face significant risks from climate hazards, notably hurricanes. This study conducts a component-based, performance-based wind engineering assessment of informally-constructed house typologies, defined based on extensive fieldwork, under both existing and projected future climate conditions. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of certain mitigation strategies, such as reinforcing roof-to-wall connections, in significantly reducing the probability of failure. Fully-mitigated cases, which involve applying mitigation measures to the roof envelope, roof-to-wall connections, and shear walls, exhibited annual probabilities of failure that are much closer to, but do not necessarily meet, the threshold targeted by American building standards (i.e., ASCE 7). The results also show a dramatic increase in probability of failure of these houses projected by the adopted climate change model scenarios, driven by the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes in Puerto Rico. Results from feedback from those working in the informal construction sector also identify challenges hindering the effective implementation of mitigation measures in Puerto Rican communities, including a lack of knowledge about how to implement the mitigation strategies and barriers related to real and perceived costs. Taken together these results underscore the urgent need for changes in building practices and revising building standards and suggesting potentially feasible mitigation strategies to improve those practices.
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    Testing the influence of system effects on the lateral response in t-shaped wood frame shear walls
    (2025) Valdivieso Cascante, Diego Nicolás; Almazan Campillay, José Luis; Lopez-García González, Diego; Montaño Castañeda, Jairo Alonso; Liel A.B.; Guindos Bretones, Pablo
    This paper examines the impact of transverse shear walls (TSW), out-of-plane bending stiffness of diaphragms (FDIA), and axial (gravity) loading (AXL) on the lateral response of strong wood-frame shear walls (SWs) in multistory light frame timber buildings (LFTBs). Experimental tests assessed the lateral cyclic response of T-shaped SW assemblies with and without diaphragms and gravity load. Tests showed that the TSW effect enhances the lateral stiffness and strength but reduces the deformation capacity. The FDIA and AXL effects further influence the stiffness and strength and compensate in part for the reduction of the deformation capacity due to the TSW effect. Diaphragms also made the T-shaped SW response more symmetrical and improved the evolution of secant stiffness, cumulative dissipated energy, and equivalent viscous damping as the lateral drift increases. Numerical analyses of a theoretical building model with T-shaped SWs showed significant reductions in lateral drift and uplift compared to those of Planar SWs alone, highlighting the importance of considering system effects in the seismic design of LFTBs.