Abstract

This study examines the flexural performance of six 9-m full-scale two-span Nail-Laminated Timber Concrete (NLTC) composite slabs. The slabs were made with lumber beams edge-joined with double nailing, end-joined with butt joints, and the reinforced concrete topping connected with a set of notches, inclined screws, or a combination of both. The multi-span configuration of slabs reduces their deflections simply and effectively. Fivepoint monotonic bending tests were considered for all slabs. Before full-scale slabs, compressive and tensile pullout tests of Timber-Concrete Composite (TCC) shear connections were performed, including notches and inclined screws. Tensile pull-out tests of shear connections were also included to emulate the negative bending moments that occur in the middle of the slabs. Failure modes, load-mid-span deflection relation, bending stiffness, and timber-concrete slip were evaluated for all slabs. A detailed 3D micro-Finite Element (FE) model of the shear connections was built in ANSYS software, whereas a macro-FE model of NLTC slabs was made in SAP2000, demonstrating a good fit for the timber-concrete interaction and the load-carrying capacity of the composite slab at the serviceability range. Moreover, an analytical elastic TCC beam with the Girhammar method was assessed and demonstrated as more precise than the traditional gamma-method. Finally, an accurate prediction of the numerical and analytical (Girhammar) models for the bending stiffness at service loads up to 30% of capacity is observed, with errors in a range of 2-23% and 9-74%, respectively.