Lateral Performance of Log Wall with Butt-and-Pass Corner Style

Log houses are an ancient construction technique. The paper presents an ongoing investigation of the structural response of the log wall corner joint system of the Butt-and-Pass style under lateral loads. The finite element model was developed and validated with the experimental results. A parametric study was performed for assessing the effect of penetration length of the logs on the lateral capacity of the log wall specimens. Several models were created with variable penetration lengths ranging from 20 to 70 mm. The study found an inverse relationship between the penetration length and the lateral stiffness. The analyses showed that the lateral load resistance capacity and the initial stiffness change dramatically once the penetration length passes 55 mm. However, the log wall specimens with penetration lengths less than 45 mm showed better resistance to the lateral loads.