An Innovative Prefabricated Timber-Concrete Composite System

Abstract

A novel type of timber-concrete composite floor, consisting of longitudinal glulam beams with a fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) slab on the top is proposed. In order to check some relevant mechanical properties of such a floor, full-scale laboratory tests along with numerical analyses were carried out. The shear connector system used in the investigation consisted of self-tapping screws driven at an angle of 45° to the grain direction of the glulam beams. The manufacture of the structure occurred according to the following steps: (a) the screws were inserted on the top of the glulam beams; (b) the beams were rotated 180° about the longitudinal axis and placed in a concrete formwork; (c) the FRC was cast into the formwork; (d) after curing of the FRC, the composite floor was again rotated 180° about the longitudinal axis into its right position, i.e. with the FRC slab on the top side. Long term tests and quasi-static bending tests were performed. It was found that the proposed connection system showed a very high degree of composite action both during the long-term testing and at load levels close to the failure load. Furthermore, the assembly of the prefabricated timber-concrete composite system revealed to be very fast and easy.