Analysis of connections with glued reinforcing bars for timber-concrete composite floors

Abstract

Timber-concrete composite floors consist of an advantageous structural solution that can be applied in a variety of situations. The connection system interferes on the design of these structures, making its characterization essential. In this work, it was evaluated, through shear tests, connections formed by rebar glued perpendicularly to the wood fibers with epoxy resin, associated or not with notches. The shape of the notch was also varied between rectangular and triangular. It was noticed that the notch considerably increased the connection strength, with the connection with triangular notch presenting an increase of 256% in strength compare to the one without notch, as well as the stiffness, with the connection with rectangular notch presenting an increase of 1049% in stiffness compare to the option without notch. It was also noticed that connections with notches showed a fragile behavior, while those without notches had elastoplastic behavior. The experimental results were applied to an analytical model to evaluate the behavior of timber-concrete composite beams. It was noticed that the reduction in connector spacing, as well as the use of notches, increased the bending stiffness and efficiency of the structural elements, decreasing deflection.