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Abstract: The paper investigates the influence of cyclic and sustained loading on the performance of layered wood–concrete composite
beams interconnected by a notched connection detail. A number of composite beams were conditioned in a climate chamber in order to
raise the wood moisture content from the ambient value 共5–7%兲 to about 12%. Then the beams were subjected to 21,600 cycles of loading
and unloading to simulate the typical live load frequency experienced by the floor of a commercial building over a 30-year service life.
Finally, each individual beam was ramp loaded to failure to determine the ultimate load carrying capacity and composite efficiency.
Additional beams were subjected to sustained load for 133 days in an unconditioned environment and then tested to failure. The main
outcomes of the experimental program were: 共1兲 relatively high beam stiffness and strength were achieved despite the use of few
connectors; 共2兲 two types of failure mechanisms were detected: either shear in the wood between the exterior notch and the beam end, or
wood bending failure at midspan; 共3兲 the cyclic loading increased the initial elastic deflection by 18% and reduced the beam stiffness by
9%, on average; 共4兲 after 133 days of sustained load, the deflection increased by 59%, on average; and 共5兲 the reduction in stiffness and
in load capacity due to sustained loading was greater than that due to the cyclic loading.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2008兲134:3共430兲
CE Database subject headings: Composite beams; Concrete; Connections; Creep; Cyclic loads; Laboratory tests; Time dependence;
Timber construction; Notches.
Introduction tions, improved seismic and fire resistance, better acoustic sepa-
ration and thermal mass than wood-only systems. The lower
Layered wood–concrete and timber–concrete composite beams weight than reinforced concrete floors also needs to be high-
represent a structural concept recently used for strength and stiff- lighted, as these floor systems impose less load on the foundations
ness upgrading of existing floors and installing new floors. This and in earthquake-prone regions they reduce the lateral strength
concept consists of interconnecting existing or new timber beams required within the structural system.
to a concrete slab cast above the timber beams 共Ahmadi and Saka The choice of the connection system is crucial in order to
1993; Ceccotti 1995兲. Steel mesh is usually cast into the slab to make the composite system structurally effective and economi-
resist potential tensile stresses due to bending, and to reduce the cally competitive. Stiff and strong interlayer shear connections
concrete crack width. This composite system provides many ben- are required to provide optimal structural efficiency. By prevent-
efits compared to wood-only or concrete-only floor systems. They ing relative slip between the bottom fiber of the concrete layer
include greater strength and stiffness, less susceptibility to vibra- and the top fiber of the timber layer, a high degree of composite
action can be achieved, where the concrete layer is mainly com-
1
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Technology, Metropolitan pressed and the timber layer is subjected to both bending and
State College of Denver, Campus Box 61, P.O. Box 173362, Denver, tension. The connection system can be either discrete, i.e., using a
CO 80217-3362. E-mail: jbalogh@mscd.edu number of discrete elements 共usually mechanical fasteners兲
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, Univ. of spaced along the length 共Piazza and Ballerini 2000; Gelfi et al.
Sassari, Palazzo del Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero, Italy. 2002; Steinberg et al. 2003; Grantham et al. 2004, Lukaszewska
E-mail fragiacomo@uniss.it
3 et al. 2007; Dias et al. 2007; Fragiacomo et al. 2007; Ceccotti
Full Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523-1372. E-mail gutkowsk@ et al. 2007兲, or it can be a continuous element, e.g., an adhesive
engr.colostate.edu placed along the entire length of the beam 共Negrão et al. 2006;
4 Brunner and Schnuriger 2006兲 or a steel mesh glued in the timber
Formerly, Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, beam 共Bathon and Graf 2000; Clouston et al. 2005兲.
CO 80523-1372. Among the discrete systems, a notched shear-key connection
Note. Associate Editor: Rakesh Gupta. Discussion open until August detail has a high degree of effectiveness. In this system, the in-
1, 2008. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual papers. To terconnection between wood and concrete is achieved by direct
extend the closing date by one month, a written request must be filed with
bearing of the concrete in the notch on the wood surface and
the ASCE Managing Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted
for review and possible publication on June 19, 2007; approved on horizontal shear in the concrete key 共Natterer et al. 1996兲. Advan-
October 3, 2007. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engi- tages of the notch detail with respect to mechanical connectors
neering, Vol. 134, No. 3, March 1, 2008. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/ such as dowels, etc. include the higher composite action 共i.e.,
2008/3-430–439/$25.00. stiffness of the composite system兲 and larger achievable load-
bearing capacity. This results in a composite beam comparatively All load tests were performed in the Structural Engineering Labo-
less expensive where only few 共two to four, depending on the bay ratory at CSU.
length兲 notches per side ensure the achievement of high degree of
composite action. Different details are being studied in Germany
Beam Specimen Construction
共Schänzlin 2003, Kuhlmann and Michelfelder 2006兲, the United
States 共Gutkowski et al. 2004, 2006兲, Portugal 共Dias et al. 2006; The beam specimens used in Tests 2–4 are depicted in Fig. 1.
Jorge et al. 2006兲, and New Zealand 共Deam et al. 2007兲. They were constructed from five 368 cm 共12 ft and 1 in.兲
Due to the large potential market in the United States for both long nominal 5 ⫻ 10 cm 共2 ⫻ 4 in.兲 of actual size 4 ⫻ 9 cm
multistory building floors and replacement or rehabilitation of 共1.5⫻ 3.5 in.兲 Grade 2 Hem-Fir sawn lumber boards nailed to-
deteriorated short-span wood bridges, an extensive experimental gether with ordinary nails. The span of 368 cm 共12 ft and 1 in.兲 is
program is being conducted at Colorado State University 共CSU兲 the maximum length available for a U.S. standard “2 ⫻ 4” 共1.5 in.
on wood–concrete composite beams with a notched connection by 3.5 in.兲 dimension lumber cross section. The shear notches
detail. The program includes ultimate load tests on the connection were then cut out of the beam and the shear notch connection was
detail, ultimate load and long-term tests on beams and full-scale created 共Fig. 2兲. The shear notch connection was made by first
floors, and cyclic tests simulating the repetition of the live load drilling and tapping a pilot hole at the center of each notch to the
during the service life of the structure 共Fast et al. 2003兲. The appropriate size for the threaded end of the dowel connector that
outcomes of the first tests to failure performed on the connection was to be inserted into the wood. HIT HY 150 epoxy adhesive
details were published in Gutkowski et al. 共2004兲. The results of made by Hilti, Inc. 共Schaan, Principality of Liechtenstein, http://
preliminary tests to failure on wood–concrete composite beams www.hilti.com/兲 was then placed into the tapped hole prior to
were reported in Gutkowski et al. 共2007兲, whereas the outcomes inserting the dowel connector into it 共Gutkowski et al. 2004兲. The
of the long-term tests performed on some beams including a nu- dowel connector was fabricated from standard 12.7 mm 共0.5 in.兲
merical modeling and a simplified analytical method were pre- diameter tapered washers made in Germany and standard
sented in Fragiacomo et al. 共2007兲. 12.7 mm 共0.5 in.兲 threaded rod. A plastic sleeve was placed on the
This paper reports the results of the cyclic and static tests top end of the dowel connector which was not embedded in the
performed on a number of wood–concrete composite beams with wood but would be surrounded by the concrete layer. The sleeve
notched connection detail. Some of the beams were precondi- insures that no bonding takes place between the concrete and the
tioned in climate chamber to a 12% moisture content of wood, dowel connector. Finally, a plastic cap was installed over the head
and then subjected to 21,600 cycles of loading and unloading to of the dowel connector. This was done so the cap could later be
simulate the typical live load experienced by the floor of a com- removed and the connector could be tightened after the concrete
mercial building over the course of a 30-year service life. Other was cured.
beams were subjected to long-term tests under sustained load Formwork was then built for each beam and concrete was
prior to testing them to destruction. The stiffness degradation due placed on top of the wood layer. This process was repeated twice
to the cyclic and long-term tests and the increase in deflection
were evaluated by comparing the results prior to and after the
cyclic and long-term tests. The efficiency of the notched connec-
tion detail was evaluated based on the experimental results. The
load-bearing capacity of the composite beams was assessed, in-
cluding the different types of failure mechanisms observed in the
load tests.
Experimental Program
Table 2. Results of the Cycle Load and Failure Tests Performed on the Specimens Subjected to Repeated Loading
Elastic Elastic Elastic Increase Decrease in
deflect. deflect. deflect. in defl. Stiffness Stiffness stiffness
prior after after after before after after
21,600 10,800 21,600 21,600 21,600 21,600 21,600 Efficiency
load load load load load load load Failure of the
Specimen cycles cycles cycles cycles cycles cycles cycles load Failure connection
number 共mm兲 共mm兲 共mm兲 共%兲 共kN/mm兲 共kN/mm兲 共%兲 共kN兲 type 共%兲
Specimens with flexural failure type
RB301 15.1 17.2 17.8 17.5 0.383 0.354 7.6 13.64 Flexural 59.5
RB303 13.7 15.5 15.9 16.2 0.419 0.396 5.5 11.92 Flexural 66.5
RB306 13.3 15.4 15.7 17.6 0.428 0.382 10.7 15.16 Flexural 52.5
RB309 15.6 17.7 18.3 17.5 0.371 0.335 9.9 9.15 Flexural 54.6
RB402 — — — — — — — 13.20 Flexural 40.6
Average 14.4 16.5 16.9 17.2 0.400 0.367 8.4 12.61 Flexural 54.7
Standard deviation 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.7 0.027 0.027 2.3 2.25 Flexural 9.6
Specimens with block shear failure type
RB310 11.9 13.3 13.9 17.1 0.481 0.472 1.9 16.81 Block shear 60.4
RB401 11.6 13.2 13.7 17.5 0.503 0.429 14.6 18.45 Block shear 68.4
RB403 11.8 13.2 13.7 16.5 0.490 0.463 5.5 18.73 Block shear 69.0
RB404 11.9 13.6 14.1 18.7 0.486 0.411 15.5 18.40 Block shear 66.8
RB406 12.0 14.0 14.4 20.0 0.470 0.428 9.9 16.59 Block shear 58.7
RB407 10.8 12.6 13.0 19.6 0.531 0.470 11.3 18.20 Block shear 69.8
RB408 11.9 13.6 14.1 19.2 0.485 0.429 11.4 17.41 Block shear 58.9
Average 11.7 13.3 13.8 18.4 0.493 0.443 10.0 17.80 Block shear 64.6
Standard deviation 0.4 0.4 0.5 1.4 0.019 0.025 4.9 0.86 Block shear 5.0
Statistical values for all specimens
Average 12.7 14.5 15.0 17.9 0.459 0.416 9.4 15.64 — 60.5
Standard deviation 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.3 0.051 0.051 4.1 3.06 — 8.5
Creep Tests
of 57.5% was measured on the beam specimens after the 133 day P1a 3l2 − 4a2
duration of testing. Such an increase in deflection is very similar EIeq = 共1兲
48 1,el
to the values of 66 and 65–70% suggested in literature for, re-
spectively, wood beams 共Forest Products Laboratory 1999兲 and with a = l / 3, l signifying the span length of the beam. Then the
reinforced concrete beams 共Portland Cement Association 2002兲 equivalent stiffness k2 of the beam under one point load at
subjected to sustained load. The increase in deflection in the com- midspan P2 was found by substituting the value of EIeq into the
posite beam specimens due to creep loading is more significant formula for the elastic deflection 2,el of a beam subjected to one
than that 共18%兲 due to the repeated live load. Further information point load at midspan
on the outcomes of creep test results including numerical predic-
tion of the deflection at the end of the service life 共30 years兲, P2 48EIeq
k2 = = 共2兲
influence of the construction process 共shored versus unshored兲, 2,el l3
and simplified analytical formulas for the evaluation of the long- The calculated values of the stiffness k2 at the beginning of
term deflection are reported in Fragiacomo et al. 共2007兲. the creep test are listed in Table 3 together with the value
At the end of the creep load test, four of the specimens were measured after the creep test during the test to failure, and with
tested to failure. The selections of these specimens was based the percent of decrease in stiffness. An average reduction in
upon their midspan deflection values at the end of the creep load stiffness of 14% can be noted. This result, however, can be
test, seeking two beams with minimum 共RB501 and RB502兲 and considered only as a qualitative outcome as the range of change
two beams with maximum 共RB505 and RB506兲 midspan deflec- in stiffness is quite wide 共from 30.6% reduction to 8% increase兲
tion. The other four specimens were left loaded under the sus- and the number of specimens is low 共only four兲. Further, the
tained load in order to obtain more experimental creep data over stiffness prior to the creep test was calculated based on the elastic
time. The same test setup as that described for the cyclic test was midspan deflection induced by the application of the concrete
used for the test to failure. The stiffness of the specimens during weights applied on the beams in one increment. The absence of
the ramp loading to the service point load of 4 kN 共900 lb兲 after the preliminary load cycles may have led to a slight underestima-
the creep test was measured and contrasted with the stiffness of tion of the beam stiffness prior to the creep load test. The physical
the specimens during the loading with the concrete weights at the reason for this decrease in stiffness may be a progressive damage
beginning of the creep test. Due to the need to cast the specimen occurring in the connection detail due to irrecoverable creep
on top of an elevated concrete frame in order to perform the creep strains and plastic strains caused by the sustained load in the
tests and to monitor the deflection during the construction pro- wood notch.
cess, the initial stiffness was not evaluated for the same type of
load 共concentrated load, three-point bending兲 as for the failure
test. In actuality, during the creep test the specimens were loaded Collapse Tests
with two concentrated loads corresponding to a four-point bend-
ing test. Further, preliminary load cycles could not be readily All the 12 beam specimens subjected to the cyclic load tests and
performed before the creep test, as was done for the cyclic tests in four of the beam specimens subjected to the creep load tests were
order to reach repeatability of deflection, as the large, heavy dead subsequently ramp loaded to failure using the same experimental
weight cylinders would have to be taken on and off several times. setup 共three-point bending兲 described in the previous section for
That would have also disturbed the specimen each time. the cyclic load tests.
However, based on the midspan deflection 1,el measured Similar to results reported in Gutkowski et al. 共2007兲, five
during the application of the two point loads P1 at the beginning beams 共see Table 2兲 failed at or near the midspan due to the
of the creep test, the equivalent flexural stiffness EIeq of the flexural tension limit being exceeded at the bottom 共wood兲 por-
composite beam was evaluated tion of the beam 共referred to as the “flexural failure”兲 as shown in
Fig. 7. Fig. 8 illustrates a typical load versus midspan deflection Fig. 12 displays the load-midspan deflection plots for all speci-
diagram for this type of failure 共specimen RB303兲 together with mens tested to failure by distinguishing between beams previ-
the stiffness of the specimen prior to the cyclic load test. The ously tested under load cycles and beams previously tested under
comparison between the curves prior and after the cyclic load test creep load. Tables 2 and 3 summarize the stiffness, failure loads
provides a further confirmation that the reduction in stiffness due and types for the beams previously subjected to cycle and creep
to the repeated live load was quite small. Two major features can tests, respectively. In the same tables, also the efficiency EFF of
be seen in Fig. 8, namely the initial stiffness of the beam exhib- the connection system as measured during the collapse test is
ited a fairly linear load–deflection diagram until a sudden failure reported. Such a quantity measures the amount of composite ac-
is induced at which time the beam loses much of its load carrying tion observed as a proportion of the maximum available, and is
capacity. defined by the formula
There was another failure type that occurred more frequently
共in seven specimens兲 than the midspan failure type, namely a abs −
EFF = ⫻ 100 共3兲
block shear failure of the wood notch. This failure mode would be abs − full
initiated by a crack or splitting of the wood starting at the base of
where , abs, and full signify, respectively, the experimental
the notch nearest the end running parallel to the grain of wood
deflection, the theoretical deflection in the case of no connection,
until it reached the end of the beam, as shown in Fig. 9. When
and the theoretical deflection in the case of fully rigid connection
the block shear failure occurred, the load carrying capacity of
between concrete and wood over the entire length of the inter-
the beam decreased significantly but remained high enough to
layer. The theoretical deflections abs and full were calculated
induce a secondary mode of failure, namely a flexural failure at
by summing the flexural stiffness of concrete and wood, and
the bottom of the wood layer at midspan 共Wieligmann et al.
by using the method of the transformed section, respectively.
2004兲. Fig. 10 illustrates a typical load versus midspan deflection
The load–midspan deflection curves for the theoretical cases of
diagram for this type of failure 共specimen RB407兲. Fig. 11 depicts
fully rigid and fully flexible connection are displayed in Figs. 8
the load vs. slip at the notch location for the same specimen. The
and 10 for Specimens RB303 and RB407, respectively. The
extremely low values of slip provide a further indication of the
values of the mechanical properties measured for wood and
effectiveness of the notched connection detail.
concrete were used in this calculation. The efficiency was calcu-
Fig. 8. Load–midspan deflection curves during the test to failure of Fig. 10. Load–midspan deflection curves during the test to failure of
the RB303 beam specimen, and comparison with the stiffness prior the RB407 beam specimen, and comparison with the stiffness prior
the cycle load tests, and with the limit cases of fully rigid and fully the cycle load tests, and with the limit cases of fully rigid and fully
flexible connection flexible connection
Concluding Remarks
lated by fitting the load–midspan deflection curve prior to the
failure with the best-fit straight line, and calculating the quantities The paper reports the outcomes of a stage of research in an
, abs, and full for the same value of load. It has to be pointed extensive experimental program ongoing at CSU. A number of
out, however, that the Young’s modulus of the wood used for the layered wood–concrete composite beam specimens with notched
creep test beams was not measured. Therefore, the average value connection detail were conditioned to 12% moisture content and
measured on the wood used for the cyclic load test was used in then subjected to 21,600 cycles of loading–unloading to about
those beams. one-third of the average failure load. The span of 368 cm 共12 ft
The efficiency of connection was found to be fairly high, de- and 1 in.兲 is the maximum length available for a U.S. standard
spite the few number of notches cut along the beam and, there- 2 ⫻ 4 共1.5 in.⫻ 3.5 in.兲 dimension lumber cross-section. For
fore, the relatively inexpensiveness of the connection needed. The longer spans, a larger size is needed for that reason alone, to avoid
efficiency was noted to be lower for the specimens previously unacceptable discontinuities in the span. Creep behavior might
subjected to the creep test 共43.1% on average兲 than for the speci- differ as well. The purpose of the conditioning to 12% was to
mens previously tested under cycle loading 共60.5% on average兲, increase the equilibrium moisture content in the wood, usually
despite the environmental conditioning of the former specimens around 5–7% in Colorado. The number of cycles was chosen so
to 12% moisture level. The former value, however, suffers from as to represent the live load variations expected in an office build-
the uncertainty on the actual value of the Young’s modulus of ing over the 30 year service life. At the end of the cycle load test,
wood as that quantity was not measured and the average Young’s all the beams were ramp loaded to failure. Other beams were
modulus for the wood measured in the other batch of specimens subjected to creep load test lasting for 133 days in unconditioned
was used. environment and then tested to failure. The stiffness of the beams
A small reduction in efficiency can be recognized in the beams prior and after the cyclic loading and creep tests were compared
subjected to cyclic load tests that failed with flexural failure type and the efficiency of the connection calculated. All material prop-
共54.7%兲 compared with those failing with block shear type erties 共Young’s modulus of wood and concrete兲 were evaluated by
共64.5%—Table 2兲. This result is consistent with the analytical/ experimental tests.
numerical outcomes predicted by Wieligmann et al. 共2004兲. Con- The primary observations are: 共1兲 the repetition of the live
sequently, the failure load of 12.6 kN 共2,830 lb兲 for the flexural load led to an irrecoverable increase in deflection at the end of the
failure type was on average significantly lower with respect to the 21,600 load cycles on average equal to 18% of the initial elastic
17.8 kN 共4,000 lb兲 for the block shear failure type 共see Table 2兲. deflection. This increase in deflection approached a sort of steady-
This outcome is also attributed to the observation that all beams state characterized by limited increase as the cycles approached
with flexural failure type had a noticeable defect in the wood the 21,600 cycles test limit. However, this result cannot be gen-
共knot, crack兲 located at or near the midspan. This defect likely eralized for structures where the number of cycles may be of the
prevented the beam from fully exploiting its flexural load capacity order of millions like for major highway bridges or order of 100s
and led to an early failure in bending which occurred prior the of thousands for rural bridge locations; 共2兲 on average, the de-
attainment of the block shear failure. crease in stiffness after the cyclic load tests was found to be 9%.
The creep specimens had no noticeable defects at or around This decrease in stiffness, together with the increase in deflection,
the midspan and all exhibited block shear failure type. The failure may be caused by a progressive damage occurring in the connec-
load of 10.3 kN 共2,320 lb兲 was significantly lower compared with tion detail due to plastic strain development in the wood notch as
the value of 17.8 kN 共4,000 lb兲 for the cyclic loaded specimens a result of repeated loading; 共3兲 the sustained load increased the
with block shear failure types. Even though definitive conclusions deflection far more 共57.5%兲 than what the repeated load did
cannot be drawn due to the small number of specimens tested, a 共18%兲; 共4兲 a reduction in stiffness, slightly larger than that for the
sustained load seems to have a more significant effect in terms of cyclic loaded specimens, was also observed for the specimens
stiffness and strength reduction than 21,600 cycles of loading- subjected to the creep test. The physical reason for this decrease
unloading together with an increase in wood moisture content in stiffness may be a progressive damage in the wood notch due
from 5–7% to 12%. to irrecoverable creep strains and plastic strains caused by the