Responsible partners: SerQ (Portugal) and Cesefor (Spain)

Description: Combining different materials is a topic of major importance for construction, gathering the most relevant properties of each material in its best performance. Timber-concrete composite structures are of utmost importance as the addition of a top layer of concrete above a timber beam element will increase the stiffness and load-carrying capacity if an effective connection is properly used. This is part of the optimization process of resources that the construction sector needs to face.

Following the existing design codes for timber-concrete beams/floors, the main goal of this experiment is to assess the mechanical performance of CLT-concrete solutions under bending stresses using local softwood species. The following steps were established:

  • Theoretical design based on codes (e.g. CEN/TS 19103:2021);
  • Production of CLT elements at laboratory facilities;
  • Concrete pouring on CLT elements;
  • Bending tests following EN 408.

Different configurations of CLT-concrete beams/floors will be designed considering variables such as: i) type of connection; ii) species; iii) concrete.

In terms of the type of connection two different configurations will be assessed: i) perpendicular notch with screw; ii) dove-tail notch. Three species are the focus of the study (maritime pine, radiata pine and scots pine), combined with different concrete mixtures (normal concrete and/or fibre-reinforced concrete).

The tests will follow EN 408 layout for loading and three main results will be obtained: i) load carrying capacity; ii) effective stiffness; iii) failure mode. The results from Experiments nº 3 and 4 would be considered for numerical simulations.