Probabilistic characterization of roof panel uplift capacity under wind loading

Abstract

The integrity of the roof system is important to the safety of inhabitants and prevents excessive damage to light-frame wood structures. The uplift capacity of fastened roof panels has been investigated using experimental tests and numerical models. Monotonically increasing uniform static pressure is often employed in experimental investigations and numerical modeling is carried out by assuming that the tributary area method is adequate and the fasteners can be modeled as linear elastic springs, even though the force–deformation relationship for nail withdrawal is nonlinear and uncertain. This study is aimed at assessing the statistical characteristics and modeling the uplift capacity for the roof panel under stochastic wind pressure by incorporating the uncertainty in nail withdrawal behaviour. The results show that the nonlinear behaviour of nail withdrawal needs to be considered to improve the accuracy of the estimated uplift capacity; the statistics and the probability model of the uplift capacity are affected by the degree of correlation of the fastener behaviour within the panel; and that nail spacing and missing nails influence the uplift capacity significantly.