Examination of Slip Behavior in Drywall Partition Walls

Abstract

Preliminary observations of Phase I testing of a subassembly of nonstructural drywall partition walls integrated with cross-laminated timber (CLT) rocking walls are reported. In this phase, the slip behavior of two straight drywall partition walls (without return walls) – one with conventional slip-track detailing and the other with telescoping detailing – was examined. These drywall partition walls were tested under a bidirectional loading protocol, which allowed for systematic evaluation of the effect of out of plane drift on the in-plane resistance of the drywall partition walls. Preliminary conclusions are that the telescoping detailing performs better since it eliminates damage to the framing, such as detachment of end studs that causes bending of the end studs and damage to the track. Moreover, the out-of-plane drift had a negligible effect on the in-plane resistance.