In-Plane Behavior of Timber-Steel Hybrid Floor Diaphragms: Experimental Testing and Numerical Simulation
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical studies on the in-plane behavior of a novel timber-steel hybrid floor diaphragm. The proposed diaphragm system consists of C-shaped thin-walled steel members that are used as joists and dimension lumber that is placed on top of the joists to form a timber decking. The dimension lumber is further connected to the steel joists by screws. In-plane loading tests were conducted to investigate the failure modes, in-plane load resisting capacity, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation of the proposed hybrid diaphragm. In terms of deformation characteristic, results showed that shear deformations contributed up to 90% of the total in-plane deformation of the hybrid diaphragm. The load resisting behavior of the diaphragm showed an obvious nonlinear characteristic with stiffness degradation, and the ductility of the diaphragm was found to be closely related to the failure mode of the screwed connections between the steel joists and the timber decking. A nonlinear finite element model of the hybrid diaphragm was then developed and verified using the test results. A specific feature of the numerical model was the introduction of the user defined element HYST spring to simulate the hysteretic behavior of screwed wood-steel connections. Results showed that the numerical predictions agreed reasonably well with test results in terms of hysteresis loops, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation. The proposed numerical model, which is capable of predicting the nonlinear behavior of the diaphragm, can further serve as a useful tool for the evaluation of the mechanical behavior of the proposed diaphragm under more realistic and complicated loading scenarios. The experimental and numerical results presented in this study represent a basis of knowledge for the further development and application of such a timber-steel hybrid diaphragm.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China for supporting this work with a research grant (Grant No. 51378382).
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 6, 2015
Accepted: May 2, 2016
Published online: Jul 1, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 1, 2016
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