Simulated cyclone wind loading of a brick veneer house.

Includes 20 figs and 3 tables

Technical report

The results of the tests on this brick veneer house are very interesting in that they have highlighted both inherent strength and inherent weakness in the house that was built according to the provisions of the Home Building Code. The extremely high racking strength of the house demonstrates the contribution made by the internal lining board, both as wall bracing and as ceiling diaphragm. The tests demonstrated most aptly that the main function of diagonal bracing is to keep the frame square during construction. They also demonstrated that for this type of construction the maximum spacing of bracing walls could be increased to 9 m. Although the designated braces in those walls 9 m apart had been nullified, they should still be considered as bracing walls. The poor performance of the looped metal strap under cyclic loading verified the results obtained in previous house testing. The framing anchors performed better than the looped strap but were still not able to sustain the full complement of cyclic loading. It is recommended therefore that further investigations be made into both the fatigue characteristics of light gauge metal and the suitability of the cyclic loading regime in simulating the effects of a tropical cyclone. The brickwork performed satisfactorily in resisting lateral forces and had high racking strength, although it may be difficult in brick veneer construction to fully utilize that strength as there was no evidence of the framework and the veneer interacting as bracing