Abstract
Steel–timber composite (STC) systems are considered as an environmentally friendly alternative to steel–concrete composite (SCC) structures due to its advantages including high strength-to-weight ratio, lower carbon footprint, and fully dry construction. Bolts and screws are the most commonly used connectors in STC system; however, they probably make great demands on the accuracy of construction because of the predrilling in both the timber slabs and steel girder fangles. To address this issue, the STC connections with grouted stud connectors (GSC) were proposed in this paper. In addition, stud connectors can also provide outstanding stiffness and load-bearing capacity. The mechanical characteristic of the GSC connections was exploratorily investigated by finite element (FE) modeling. The designed parameters for the FE models include stud diameter, stud strength, angle of outer layer of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panel, tapered groove configurations, and thickness of CLT panel. The numerical results indicated that the shear capacity and stiffness of the GSC connections were mainly influenced by stud diameter, stud strength, angle of outer layer of CLT panel, and the angle of the tapered grooves. Moreover, the FE simulated shear capacity of the GSC connections were compared with the results predicted by the available calculation formulas in design codes and literatures. Finally, the group effect of the GSC connections with multiple rows of studs was discussed based on the numerical results and parametric analyses. An effective row number of studs was proposed to characterize the group effect of the GSC connections.
Highlights
As a green and renewable building material, timber has the characteristics of light weight, high strength, and easy processing
The results indicated that the bolt connectors embedded in grout pockets (BCGP) connections presented better stiffness, bearing capacity, ductility, and composite efficiency compared to that of the conventional bolted or screwed steel–timber composite (STC) connections, and the long-term behavior was proved to be superior [12]
The grouted stud connectors (GSC) connections are proposed for the connections between the timber slab and the steel beam in steel–timber composite (STC) system
Summary
As a green and renewable building material, timber has the characteristics of light weight, high strength, and easy processing. Hassanieh et al [3,4] through push-out test studied the shear performance of steel-CLT (cross-laminated timber) and steel-LVL (laminated veneer lumber) connections with diverse types of connectors, including coach screw, dog screw, bolt, and screw and adhesive composite connection. Typical dowel-type connectors for STC beams (i.e., bolts and screws) demonstrated an ideal load–slip response, most of them need predrilling at both the steel beam flanges and timber slabs before connecting, which requires higher construction accuracy and is considerably inconvenient for installation. FE modeling on the GSC shear connections was conducted using ABAQUS to investigate the shear performance of the connections; further, the influences of the stud diameter, stud strength, grain directions of timber, configurations, angles of grouting groove, and thickness of CLT panel on the load–slip response, peak load capacity, and stiffness were studied.
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