Effect of form change in sill plates on shear wall performance

In an effort to eliminate heavy metals from buildings and to improve performance of the lateral force resisting system, a new form of sill plate has been developed. The original objective was to retrofit existing light-frame structures owned by the U.S. Navy, but the form can be used for any new or existing structures. The extruded wood-plastic composite sill plate eliminates the splitting failure experienced by preservative treated wood sill plates and eliminated the need for hold-down connectors, while continuing to provide a moisture barrier between the untreated wood members and concrete. The walls with the new sill plate have resistances comparative to walls with hold-downs and the sill plate can be easily used to retrofit existing structures. This presentation will describe the development effort and the performance enhancements provided by the new sill plate form and material.