Shear performances of shallow notch-screw connections for timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors

Abstract

Shallow notch-screw connections, which showed potential superior slip moduli and load-carrying capacity compared with the traditional screwed connections and can be employed in the timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors were examined in this study. Eight groups of shallow notch-screw connections were designed to perform the push-out tests, in which the arrangement of screws, the heavy timber types, and the width of the shallow notch were considered. The depth of the notch was uniformly 15 mm. The vertical screws and the cross inclined screws were separately selected as the reinforcement for the shallow notch connections. The common heavy timber panels, including nail laminated timber (NLT), glulam, and cross laminated timber (CLT), were adopted. The width of the shallow notch tested included 100 and 200 mm. The experimental results showed that the shallow notch connections underwent ductile failure. The effects of testing factors on the shear strength, slip moduli, and ductility were discussed. The design proposals about the slip moduli of the shallow notches using each timber panel types were proposed, aiming to provide guidance for the application of the TCC floors with shallow notches.