Research Collaboration with RISH on Resilient Mass Timber Structures

Dr. Shiling Pei (Associate Professor, Colorado School of Mines, U.S.A.)

From June to September 2024, I had the privilege of visiting Kyoto University as a visiting professor at the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH). Professor Isoda and I share a strong research interest in traditional and modern timber structures. During my visit in Japan, our collaborative work is focused on resilient mass timber systems for regions with high seismicity.

When I first arrived in Japan, I was able to travel to Tsukuba to observe a shake table test of a full-scale two story wood building utilizing mass timber bracing systems. I was also given a lab tour at Building Research Institute by a former member of the Isoda Lab, currently working as an engineer in BRI.

Once I return to Kyoto, I started to work on organizing a special issue for the Journal of Engineering Structures with a focus on mass timber structural systems. This special issue aimed at gathering papers representing the latest advancement in timber engineering around the world. I assembled a diverse guest editorial group including editors from North American, Europe, China, and Japan. Professor Isoda collaborated with me on this effort as the regional editor for Japan. This special issue is currently accepting submissions and will conclude early next year.

Aside from the editorial work, I also worked with faculty and students in the Isoda Lab to prepare and publish journal papers to disseminate research results. Dr. Isoda and I are coauthoring an invited review paper on mass timber building design practices in seismic regions around the world. We also started working on a numerical analysis paper using customized software Wallstats (developed at Kyoto University) and the full-scale shake table test data from the NHERI TallWood project I just conducted last year. Professor Isoda and I also co-authored another paper in collaboration with the engineering team at Sumitomo Forestry Co. Ltd. on recently conducted tall wood building test designed based on Japanese building code. In addition to co-authoring papers, I also helped in advisory capacity to provide guidance and advices to multiple students in Isoda Lab on their journal papers targeting English journals.

In July, I gave an open lecture/seminar for the RISH seminar series. The presentation is on the 10-story mass timber building shake table test I just conducted in 2023, which is the tallest full-scale building ever tested on a shake table to date. I also delivered another talk on my research journey in timber engineering for a summer in-person workshop at the Isoda Lab.  

Finally, thanks to the opportunity to visit Japan, I was able to arrange a personal trip to Noto earthquake affected cities (Wajima and Suzu) to observe damage to wood buildings and recovery efforts.

I am very grateful for my host Professor Isoda and his lab staff (especially Mrs. Tomoko) for their help during my 3-month visit. I look forward to future collaboration with Kyoto University researchers to continue pushing the boundary of research and design of resilient wood structures for earthquake regions.