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In this study, full-scale tests were conducted on unblocked shear walls with various sheathing details and reference blocked shear walls. A total of eight 4.88 m×4.88 m shear walls were tested. Monotonic and reversed cyclic displacement schedules were used as loading protocols. Load–displacement response of each test specimen was recorded, from which the initial stiffness, yield point, ultimate load and displacement, and energy dissipation were calculated. The test results were analyzed to study the influence of different configurations on unblocked shear wall strengths. Relative load-carrying capacities between unblocked and blocked shear walls were determined. The results show that the provisions currently in CSA O86-01 for 2.44 m tall shear walls may be conservatively applied to the four wall configurations tested in this study. Data from this study are suitable for verifying structural analysis models that may be used to further refine the adjustment factors.

An explicit solution is presented for three-layer beams with non-identical and semi-rigidly connected layers. Exact designer-usable equations for calculating mid-span deflection due to bending deformation and interlayer slip of a simply supported layered beam subjected to a uniformly distributed load and a point load applied at mid-span are also given. Calculated results agree well with the results from finite element analyses and from tests.Key words: layered beam, semi-rigid connection, explicit solution.