In timber-concrete composite systems, timber and concrete are inherently brittle materials that behave linearly elastic in both tension and bending. However, the shear connection between the members can exhibit significant ductility. It is therefore possible to develop timber-concrete composite systems with ductile connection that behave in a ductile fashion. This study illustrates the use of an elastic-perfectly plastic analytical approach to this problem. In addition, the study proposes an incremental method for predicting the nonlinear load-deflection response of the composite system. The accuracy of the analytical model is confirmed with a computer model, and numerical solutions of the analytical model are compared to experimental results from the bending tests conducted by previous researchers. Reasonable agreement is found from the comparisons, which validates the capacity of the analytical model in predicting the structural behaviour of the timber-concrete composite systems in both elastic and post-elastic stages.
The two-way action of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is often ignored in the design of CLT due to its complexity. But in some cases, for example, large span timber floor/roof, the benefit of taking the two-way action into account may be considerable since it is often deflection controlled in the design. Furthermore CLT panels are typically limited to widths of less than 3 m. therefore, for practical applications, engaging CLT panels in two-way action as a plate in bending would require connecting two panels in the width/minor direction to take out-of-plane loading. To address this technically difficult situation, an innovative connection was developed to join the CLT panels in the minor direction to form a large continuous two-way plate. The two-way action of CLT was also quantified. Static bending test was conducted on CLT panels in the major and minor directions to measure the Modulus of Elasticity (MOE). This provided a benchmark for the following connection test, and data for the future development of computer modeling. The average apparent MOE was 9.09 GPa in the major direction and 2.37 GPa in the minor direction. Several connection techniques were considered and tested, including self-tapping wood screws, glued in steel rods, and steel connectors. One connecting system was found to be effective. For the panel configuration considered, the system was consisted of steel plates, self-tapping wood screws, and 45° screw washers. Two steel plates were placed on the tension side with sixteen screws, and one steel plates was placed on the compression side with four screws. When the screws were driven into the wood, the screws were tightly locked with the washers and steel plates, and at the same time, the wood members were pulled together by the screws. This eliminated any original gap within the connection. The connector was installed to join two CLT members in the minor direction. They were tested under bending with the same setup as above. The connected panels had an average apparent MOE of 2.37 GPa, and an average shear-free MOE of 2.44 GPa, both of which were higher than the counterpart in the full panels. The moment capacity of the connected panels was also high. The minimum moment capacity was 3.2 times the design value. Two large CLT panels were tested under concentrated loading with four corners simply supported. The deflection of nine locations within the panels was measured. This data will be used to validate the computer modeling for CLT two-way action.
In Phase I of Developing Large Span Two Way CLT Floor System (2017-18) we studied the performance of a steel plate connection system for the minor direction of CLT plates. The connected specimens had higher stiffness and strength compared to intact members under bending. In Phase II (2018-19) we designed and tested another connector based on...
In Phase I (2018-19) of this project on Prefabricated Heavy Timber Modular Construction, three major types of connections used in a stackable modular building were studied: intramodule connection, inter-module vertical connection, and inter-module horizontal connection. The load requirement and major design criteria were identified...
This project proposes a timber-based composite floor that can span 12 m and be used in the construction of 40+ story office buildings. This floor system integrates timber panels and timber beams to form a continuous box girder structure. The timber panels function as the flanges and the timber beams as the web. The beams are spaced and connected to the flange panels so that sufficient bending stiffness of a 12 m span can be achieved via the development of composite action.
The current phase of this project studied the performance of the connections between timber elements in the proposed composite member. Six types of connections using different flange material and connection techniques were tested: Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), and Post Laminated Veneer Lumber (PLVL). Glulam was used as the web. The majority of the connections used self-tapping wood screws except one had notches. The load-carrying capacity, stiffness, and ductility of the connections were measured. The stiffness of CLT, LSL, and PLVL connections was in the same range, 19-20 kN/mm per screw. Amongst the three, LSL had the highest peak load and PLVL had the highest proportional limit. The stiffness of the two LVL screw connections was around 13 kN/mm. The notched LVL connection had significantly higher stiffness than the rest, and its peak load was in the same range as LSL, but the failure was brittle.
LVL was used to manufacture the full scale timber composite floor element. With a spacing of 400 mm, the overall stiffness reached 33689 N
mm2×109, which was 2.5 times the combined stiffness of two Glulam beams. The predicted overall stiffness based on Gamma method was within 5% of the tested value, and the estimated degree of composite action was 68%. From both the test results and analytical modeling, the number of screws may be further reduced to 50% or less of the current amount, while maintaining a high level of stiffness.
Future work includes testing the composite floor under different screw spacings,
investigating the effect of concrete topping, and the connections between floor members
and other structural elements.
This project studied the feasibility and performance of a mass timber wall system based on Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) for floor/wall applications, in order to quantify the effects of various design parameters. Thirteen 2.4 m × 2.4 m shear walls were manufactured and tested in this phase. Together with another five specimens tested before, a total eighteen shear wall specimens and ten configurations were investigated. The design variables included fastener type, sheathing thickness, number of sheathings, sheathing material, nailing pattern, wall opening, and lumber orientation. The NLT walls were made of SprucePine-Fir (SPF) No. 2 2×4 (38 mm × 89 mm) lumber and Oriented Strand Lumber (OSB) or plywood sheathing. They were tested under monotonic and reverse-cyclic loading protocols, in accordance with ASTM E564-06 (2018) and ASTM E2126-19, respectively.
Compared to traditional wood stud walls, the best performing NLT based shear wall had 2.5 times the peak load and 2 times the stiffness at 0.5-1.5% drift, while retaining high ductility. The advantage of these NLT-based wall was even greater under reverse-cyclic loading due to the internal energy dissipation of NLT.
The wall with ring nails had higher stiffness than the one with smooth nails. But the performance of ring nails deteriorated drastically under reverse-cyclic loading, leading to a considerably lower capacity. Changing the sheathing thickness from 11 mm to 15 mm improved the strength by 6% while having the same initial stiffness. Adding one more face of sheathing increased the peak load and stiffness by at least 50%. The wall was also very ductile as the load dropped less than 10% when the lateral displacement exceeded 150 mm. The difference created by sheathing material was not significant if they were of the same thickness. Reducing the nailing spacing by half led to a 40% increasing in the peak load and stiffness. Having an opening of 25% of the area at the center, the lateral capacity and stiffness reached 75% or more of the full wall.
A simplified method to estimate the lateral resistance of this mass timber wall system was proposed. The estimate was close to the tested capacity and was on the conservative side. Recommendations for design and manufacturing the system were also presented.
This project studied the effect of openings on the lateral performance of CLT shear walls
and the system behavior of the walls in a module. Three-layer Cross Laminated Timber
(CLT) was used for manufacturing the wall and module specimens. The laminar was
Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) #2&Better for both the major and minor layers. Each layer was 35
mm thick. The panel size was 2.44 m × 2.44 m.
Four configurations of walls were investigated: no opening, 25% opening, 37.5% opening,
and 50% opening. The opening was at the center of the wall and in the shape of a square.
A CLT module was made from two walls with 50% openings, with an overall thickness of
660 mm. The specimens were tested under monotonic loading and reverse-cyclic loading,
in accordance with ASTM E564-06 (2018) and ASTM E2126-19.
The wall without opening had an average peak load of 111.8 kN. It had little internal
deformation and the failure occurred at the connections. With a 25% opening, deformation
within the wall was observed but the failure remained at the connections. It had the same
peak load as the full wall. When the opening was increased to 37.5%, the peak load
decreased by 6% to 104.9 kN and the specimens failed in wood at the corners of the
opening. Further increasing the opening to 50%, the peak load dropped drastically to 63.4
kN, only 57% of the full wall.
The load-displacement relationship was approximately linear until the load reached 60%
of the peak or more. Compared to the full wall, the wall with 25% opening had 65% of the
stiffness. When the opening increased to 37.5% and 50%, the stiffness reduced to 50% and
24% of the full wall, respectively. The relationship between stiffness and opening ratio was
approximately linear. The loading protocol had effect on the peak load but not on the
stiffness. There was more degradation for larger openings under reverse-cyclic loading.
The performance of the module indicated the presence of system effect that improves the
ductility of the wall, which is important for the seismic performance of the proposed
midrise to tall wood buildings. The test data was compared to previous models found in
literature. Simplified analytical models were also developed to estimate the lateral stiffness
and strength of CLT wall with openings.
This project was conducted to quantify the performance of adhesives bond lines under
shear load subject to elevated temperature. The results add to the understanding of the
performance of polyurethane adhesive bond lines under elevated temperatures to address
areas of fire safety concern under the current building codes.
The project focused on studying the shear bond capacity of three wood species by using 3
types of adhesives with/without nanoclay treatment at 4 temperature levels. The three
wood species are Douglas-Fir, Hemlock and SPF. The adhesives are polyurethane (PU),
Phenol-Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (PRF) and Epoxy. PU and PRF specimens were also
tested with nanoclay treatment and without nanoclay treatment. Epoxy specimens were
tested without nanoclay treatment only. The temperature levels considered were room
temperature (about 20 °C), 60°C, 80°C and 100°C. The results indicate that the influence
of elevated temperature on the shear bond strength of PU and PRF adhesive was in the
range of 20 to 30% regardless of nanoclay treatment. Regardless of species, PU or PRF,
with or without nanoclay, the average shear strength for 100°C oven temperature
treatment ranged from 6.0 to 7.5 MPa. In the case of SPF PU specimens treatment with
nanoclay reduced the variability of shear strength significantly from 12% at room
temperature to 5% after 100°C oven treatment. This is an important aspect that needs
further verification for enhancement of performance. Finally the data in this study can be
used to support modeling of timber component subjected to elevated temperature.
The in-plane permeability was measured for thick, unidirectional oriented strand lumber made from aspen (Populus tremuloides) strands and pressed to five different densities. The press cycle was such that the vertical density profile of the panels was uniform. Specimens were cut from the boards and sealed inside a specially designed specimen holder; this jig was connected to a permeability measurement apparatus and in-plane permeability measured parallel, perpendicular, and 45° to the strand orientation. Permeability decreased markedly with increasing board density. The highest permeability was in the strand alignment direction and lowest perpendicular to it. The permeability in the 45° direction fell between those in parallel and perpendicular to strand alignment. A polynomial equation was fit to the results of each direction with r2 of 0.938 and 0.993. The in-plane distribution of permeability as a function of flow direction was obtained and its vector diagram was lenticular in shape.
Currently the massive timber shear walls are mainly made from Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), which possesses a high in-plane shear strength and rigidity. But only part of its elements (mainly the vertically aligned laminae) are engaged in carrying the vertical load and that could be a limitation when designing taller timber structures or wherever higher vertical load is present. This project studied alternative solutions to massive timber shear wall system, based on Nailed Laminated Timber (NLT) and post laminated LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber).
The test was conducted on three levels: shear test on glue/nail line, bending-shear test on a small element, and full size wall test under lateral loading. The former two tests investigated the properties of basic elements in NLT and post laminated LVL. The results were used to design and predict the performance of full size shear walls.
The NLT walls were tested under two conditions: without sheathing and with plywood sheathing. The wall without sheathing had the lowest load-carrying capacity and lowest stiffness. Adding plywood sheathing significantly increased its strength and stiffness. The failure in the wall with sheathing was at the sheathing connections, in the forms of nail withdrawal, nail head pull through, and nail breakage. The NLT wall with sheathing had a peak load up to 60% higher than the comparable light wood frame wall, also with a higher stiffness and better ductility. NLT shear walls have an internal energy dissipating capacity which CLT and post laminated LVL walls lack. The post laminated LVL walls behaved as a rigid plate under lateral loading, with little internal deformation. The failure occurred at the holdowns not within the wall. The size effect of its shear strength was studied and an equation was developed to calculate the shear strength of a large size wall plate.
Both products have efficient vertical load bearing mechanism by arranging all elements in the vertical direction. They may serve as alternative to light wood frame walls or CLT walls. Some guidelines for the application and design of NLT shear walls and post laminated LVL shear walls were proposed.
