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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]

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]

Timber–concrete composite (TCC) floors exposed to fire experience charring and thermal degradation of timber, leading to a reduction in load-carrying capacity. Finite element (FE) modeling supplements data from experimental fire testing and allows for fast and economical investigation of additional design parameters. This research presents fire test results of three large-scale TCC floor specimens and development of an FE modeling methodology for TCC floors in a fire. TCC floors constructed with nail-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber, or mass ply panel, with truss plates or angled screws as shear connectors, are loaded with a uniformly distributed service-level live load and exposed to the ASTM E119-20 standard fire curve. A 2D FE modeling methodology is presented and benchmarked against the test data. The methodology integrates sequentially coupled thermal-structural analyses, which make use of temperature-dependent thermal and mechanical properties of timber and concrete. The deflection and failure times of the FE models are benchmarked against test data. Connector forces from FE models show that shear connectors remain elastic throughout the fire exposure. FE results indicate that the load-carrying capacity is dependent on tensile stress redistribution to the uncharred timber section. The FE modeling methodology effectively calculates the mechanical and fire behavior of TCC floors and highlights limits of the applicability of analytical design methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full-scale 2-story mass timber building was tested on the University of California San Diego Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (UCSD-NHERI) uniaxial shake table during the period from June 2017 to September 2017. The main objective of the experimental program was to test the performance of mass timber building designs with different seismic lateral force–resisting systems. The focus of this study is on a building configuration designed using self-centering post-tensioned cross-laminated timber (CLT) rocking walls with U-shaped steel flexural plate energy dissipators. The shake-table tests were designed to subject the building to a series of earthquake ground motions of increasing intensity, ranging from a service-level earthquake to 1.20 times the maximum considered earthquake intensity. Between each ground motion, low-amplitude white-noise excitations were applied to the building, which responded as a quasilinear system. In this paper, two output-only operational modal analysis methods are used to estimate the modal parameters (frequency, damping, and mode shapes) based on acceleration data collected during the white-noise shake-table tests. The correlations of observed damage and repairs performed during the experimental program with changes in estimated modal features are reported. The modal parameters estimated from the testing program are also compared with a linear finite-element model that is used to validate the modal identification results and study the performance of the two system identification methods for CLT rocking structures. [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]

Timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors are becoming more commonly used in mass timber construction due to their increased stiffness and strength relative to nonconcrete composite timber floors. Current building codes do not recognize the contribution of the composite action of TCC floors to their combined strength and fire performance. Extensive structural testing is required for structural engineers to design fire protection in timber buildings that use TCC floors using either alternate means and methods or structural fire engineering. This paper presents two experimental studies conducted to examine (1) properties of shear connection systems used in TCC floors through ambient temperature direct shear tests, and (2) the behavior of TCC floors through large-scale fire tests performed at the National Research Council (NRC) in Canada. The main objective of this research is to collect data on the fundamental behavior of TCC floors in a fire. The results indicate that TCC floors have improved fire performance when compared with mass timber floors. In addition, the research quantifies the force-slip behavior of the shear connectors used and benchmarks the flexural behavior of TCC floors at ambient and elevated temperatures to existing analytical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]