A sensitivity study was performed with a nonlinear elastic finite element model for monotonic analyses of wood-framed shear walls. The objective was to provide information about simplifying a model of wood-framed shear walls with no significant loss in accuracy. The simplifications concern features such as slips in joints between frame members, slips in hold-down connections, and bearing between adjacent sheathing panels. The results from analyses of a shear wall with an opening of window shape

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... show that the effect of constraint by the bearing between sheathing panels and slips in frame joints on the overall stiffness of the wall is limited. Thus, there are great possibilities for reducing the calculation time by not taking these phenomena into account, avoiding an excessive number of degrees of freedom and iterations. The influence of the simplifications on the distribution of vertical reaction forces along the wall is more significant. Furthermore, if each simplification is introduced separately, the effect on the overall stiffness is greater. The difference, however, is less than 10%. The failing pattern of the nail connections is also clearly influenced by the simplifications when they are introduced separately. The results from the analyses show that slips in frame joints can be sufficiently represented by those in connection with the opening.