Wood grid walls are widely used as a seismic-load resisting element for upgrading traditional Japanese wood structures. However, because the elements are expected to be joined loosely due to unavoidable drying shrinkage, the current design provisions attribute small initial stiffness to grid walls. Consequently, an experimental study was conducted to examine how the seismic performance of grid walls may be improved by the use of compressed wood. Compressed wood has shape recovery behavior by compression under low temperature. These elements can be used to overcome the stiffness reduction of wooden interlocked joints caused by drying shrinkage.
