Experimental Study of Disproportionate Collapse Prevention Mechanisms for Mass-Timber Floor Systems
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper presents and discusses experiments examining the responses of mass-timber floor systems under idealized removal of an interior load-bearing wall. Testing was performed on continuous double-span () and discontinuous single-span () floor assemblies with both conventional (lap-joint and self-tapping screws) and novel (additional internal steel tubes) floor-to-floor panel connection detailing. The continuous floor systems depended solely on the panels’ bending resistance, and brittle failure occurred at a deflection of 6% of . Improved performance associated with ductile behavior was obtained with the introduction of floor-to-floor connections with maximum deflections of 8% and 12% of for conventional and novel detailing, respectively. For the floors with conventional connection detailing, failure was observed after compressive arching due to the low axial strength and ductility. The addition of steel tubes enabled catenary action, in which the floor systems maintained high load-carrying capacity while undergoing large deflections. This study demonstrated that adequate connection detailing can ensure structural robustness of mass-timber floors for disproportionate collapse prevention.
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Acknowledgments
The support by MyTiCon Connectors, Canada; Simpson Strong-Tie, Canada; and Structurlam Mass Timber, Canada is acknowledged. The support provided by George Lee, technician at the University of British Columbia Wood Mechanics Lab, and Dr. Marjan Popovski, principal scientist at FPInnovations, is much appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 2 • February 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 2, 2019
Accepted: Jun 4, 2019
Published online: Dec 6, 2019
Published in print: Feb 1, 2020
Discussion open until: May 6, 2020
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