Search

Shear connectors ensure effective interaction between wood beams and concrete slabs of composite beams, and their properties noticeably affect the fire resistance of timber-concrete composite beams. To investigate the shear stiffness of notched connectors in glued laminated timber (GLT)-concrete composite beams under fire conditions, 16 shear tests were conducted. The effects of fire duration and notch length on shear properties of the connectors for a given spacing were studied. The fire tests indicated that the reduction of the notch length from 200 mm to 150 mm remarkably affected the failure mode of the shear specimens, changing from compression failure of notched wood to shear failure of notched concrete. The increase in fire duration reduced effective width of the notched wood, negatively affected the shear stiffness and shear capacity of the connectors, and the shear stiffness decreased more rapidly. The notch length did not have a substantial effect on the shear stiffness of connectors. Based on the experimental results, an analytical model to estimate the shear stiffness of notched connectors in GLT-concrete beam under fire conditions was established.

A timber-concrete composite structure has the advantages of energy saving, environmental protection, and low carbon, and has wide application prospects. However, the effects of fire on timber-concrete composite structures are complicated. It is important to study the fire performance of connections and their influencing factors for the promotion and application of timber-concrete composite structures. This paper summarizes the research progress of connections for timber-concrete composite structures under fire. Firstly, research on the performance of connections in timber-concrete composite structures under fire is introduced, including screwed connections, notched, and grooved connections, and steel truss plate connections. Secondly, the calculation methods focused on connections of timber-concrete composite structures under fire are introduced. Finally, the main points of modeling timber-concrete composite structures under fire are also briefly introduced.

A new type of structural element, the timber-concrete composite beam, exhibited excellent structural performance. The notched connector is widely used in timber-concrete composite systems as a result of its considerable shear capacity and stiffness. Six groups of push-out tests were performed to investigate the shear performance of the notched connectors for the timber-concrete composite beams, with consideration to the varying concrete types, the shear length of the timber, and whether the notch was reinforced. From the test results, the notched connectors that corresponded to the shear fracture of concrete or timber had a low shear capacity and poor ductility. Notched connectors that simultaneously failed at the concrete slab (via shear force), as well as at the lag screw reinforcement point during bending presented the greatest shear capacity. This was followed by the notched connectors that exhibited diagonal-compression failure at the concrete slab. Screw fasteners in the notch were shown to improve the strength, ductility, and post-peak behavior of the notched connectors. In addition, the concrete type, the shear length of the timber, and whether the notch was reinforced were found to have no major influence on the slip modulus of the notched connectors.

When a lag screw with a large diameter is used as the shear connector in timer-concrete composite beams, the procedure of pre-drilling is required during the construction process. In this paper, a new type of lag screw was proposed to omit the pre-drilling step. To investigate the shear behavior of the self-tapping lag screws for glulam-lightweight concrete composite beams, a total of 18 push-out tests were conducted. Based on the push-out test results, the influences of concrete type, screw diameter, and penetration length of screw into timber on the load-carrying capacity were analyzed in detail. The push-out test results showed that the concrete type had no remarkable effect on the load-carrying capacity. The load-carrying capacity was improved with increased screw diameter and penetration length. In addition, an analytical model for load-carrying capacity of lag screw connectors was proposed based on the push-out test results. By comparisons, it was found that the timber-timber and steel-timber models proposed in Eurocode 5 made very conservative predictions on the load-carrying capacity of lag screws. The results of the analytical method presented in this paper showed a better agreement with the experimental results.