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Experimental tests of cross-laminated timber (CLT)-concrete composite floor panels were conducted. The tests consisted of linear-elastic tests of square CLT-concrete composite panels with a novel shear connector to determine elastic orthotropic plate properties. After the linear-elastic tests, the panels were subjected to a patch load at the center of the panel and tested to failure. To investigate load transfer across longitudinal joints between adjacent panels, nonuniform bending tests were conducted. Results from the experimentally measured orthotropic plate properties showed that the shear connector increased the bending stiffness in the weak direction of the panel compared to prior test results using conventional shear connectors. The tests to failure exhibited larger differences in behavior between the strong and weak orientations of the specimens, with both showing substantial inelastic behavior prior to failure. Numerical finite element models of the patch-load test showed good agreement with experimental results. Analytical formulas using the obtained orthotropic plate properties did not agree with experimental results for the patch-load at linear scales, suggesting the simplified method is currently not suited for CLT-concrete two-way bending. Load-transfer tests found that the reinforced concrete topping is capable of transferring load across the longitudinal joint of two parallel panels to enable two-way bending of composite timber–concrete floors and that the addition of a plywood spline with closely spaced screws enables a higher degree of force transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product offering several advantages for wood utilization in midrise and tall buildings. However, moisture intrusion poses significant risks since it can affect the durability of CLT structural members and their connections. There has been much research on connection performance to understand their seismic response. However, the impact of moisture on the performance of CLT connectors is less understood. Cyclic tests were conducted on a series of CLT shear wall-to-diaphragm L-bracket (angle bracket) connections after subjecting them to a wetting and redrying cycle. The study includes three exposure durations and four wood species (Douglas fir, Southern yellow pine, Norway spruce, and spruce-pine-fir) to investigate the effect of moisture exposure on the connection performance. The performance was characterized in terms of strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation. In addition, two existing engineering force-displacement models were fitted to the experimental data. Results indicate that the changes due to wetting and redrying cycling were not statistically significant for the load-carrying capacity and stiffness. In contrast, a statistically significant decrease in the total energy dissipation capacity was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connections in mass timber structural systems transfer lateral forces from mass timber elements such as shear walls to floor diaphragms. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a prominent engineered mass timber material used to manufacture walls and floor assemblies. Fire performance research of CLT walls and floors has been abundant in recent years in an effort to develop an understanding of the performance of structural members under fire. Some fire-protected structural elements, including connections, may not be directly exposed to flames in a fire event but will experience elevated temperatures. There is limited research on elevated temperature performance of CLT connections, and consequently a lack of understanding of their fire performance in CLT structures. To aid in bridging this knowledge gap, in this study a series of cyclic shear tests were conducted on a CLT wall-to-floor bracket connection assembly to characterize thermal degradation according to a matrix of 28 exposure duration–temperature combinations. Two different methods were employed to develop force-displacement backbone models from the experimental hysteresis data. Models from both methods indicate an overall degradation of the connection performance in terms of load carrying capacity, elastic stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation with increasing exposure to elevated temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels for building construction has increased over the last several decades, current standards and existing literature provide limited information regarding the design of CLT diaphragms or the prediction of their deflections when subjected to wind and strong earthquake motions. This paper presents the design and assessment of a CLT diaphragm that was part of a full-scale two-story structure subjected to shake-table testing. An analytical model is proposed for diaphragm deflection accounting for in-plane shear and bending stiffness, as well as the stiffness of various connections. Moreover, a refined numerical modeling strategy is proposed in order to consider phenomena such as panel-to-panel gap closure. Results indicate that the analytical model yields conservative results both in terms of deflections and forces when compared to the numerical model that simulates similar sources of strength and stiffness. The analytical model is suitable for the design of symmetric diaphragms with regular shapes, whereas the numerical model can also be used to model asymmetric diaphragms with irregular shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass timber construction has seen a growing interest in North America and worldwide. In the US, code provisions allow mass timber buildings to be up to 82 m tall, but with floor slabs requiring a noncombustible, usually cementitious, topping over mass timber panels (MTPs). Designing the MTP and concrete topping to act compositely can increase the strength and stiffness compared to noncomposite MTP floors. Several connections are available to create composite action between an MTP and a concrete topping, with self-tapping screws being the most widely considered practice. A new test fixture and testing method were developed to characterize connection properties and facilitate the selection of fasteners most suitable for developing composite action. Three conventional self-tapping screws were experimentally investigated at the single-fastener scale. The screws were subjected to withdrawal at 90° and 45° orientations to the interface plane between the MTP and concrete. Withdrawal from both the MTP substrate and concrete topping was investigated. Three MTP materials were tested: cross-laminated timber (CLT) consisting of two different wood species and a mass ply panel (MPP). Results demonstrated that the pullout failure of the screwhead from the concrete was the limiting failure mode. Comparisons were made between the experimental results and analytical models for screw withdrawal to assess the applicability of available models to the different MTPs. These models underestimated the capacity of the tested fasteners for all samples except for the fully threaded screws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the behavior of floor diaphragms of a shake-table experiment of a full-scale 2-story mass-timber building structure. The structure consists of glued-laminated timber beams and columns, and floors and walls were designed and built making use of cross-laminated timber panels. Two different floor systems were designed, where the roof consists of a topped cross-laminated timber (CLT)-concrete composite system, and the floor level consists of untopped CLT panels connected with plywood single-surface splines. The CLT floor systems were designed to remain essentially elastic over the whole series of shake-table tests, which included testing of three lateral force–resisting systems tested at three different seismic intensity levels (service level, design basis, and maximum considered earthquake) for a total of 34 shake-table earthquake tests. Results from the testing indicate that CLT diaphragms designed to remain essentially elastic based on basic principles of structural mechanics and existing test data can achieve desired seismic performance objectives. In addition, sources of overstrength in certain elements of the diaphragm need to be explicitly considered for a holistic diaphragm design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Twenty in-plane shear tests on CLT surface spline connections were performed. • Splines were constructed using nails and three different screw spacings. • Nail spline connections were more ductile than the screw connections. • An engineering performance model for the CLT splines is presented. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels have been used as structural diaphragm elements that form the primary lateral force-resisting system in mass-timber buildings. To better understand the overall performance of CLT diaphragms, an experimental program including monotonic and cyclic in-plane shear panel-to-panel spline connections tests was conducted. The spline connections were constructed using nails and screws with different spacings. Experimental results from the testing program allow for characterization of the performance of the connection systems in terms of elastic stiffness, strength, and ductility. Based on the results of this specific testing program, nailed spline connections displayed similar performance in terms of stiffness and strength and were more 58.7% more ductile than the screw connections, which is partly explained by the larger overstrength factors observed for the screw connections. A simplified performance model is presented to aid designers in determining the elastic, inelastic, and post-peak force parameters of the various spline connections tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]