Determination of Initial Stiffness of Timber–Steel Composite (TSC) Beams Based on Experiment and Simulation Modeling

Meng-Ting Tsai and Truong Di Ha Le
Additional contact information
Meng-Ting Tsai: Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
Truong Di Ha Le: Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Due to improvements in the use of recyclable materials in construction, timber–steel composite (TSC) beams demonstrate high potential for future construction. In this study, a proposed simulation modeling, which was adopted from the simulation modeling of a timber I-shape composite, was applied to estimate the initial stiffness of TSC beams. The strength of each beam could be determined once the initial stiffness was estimated. In addition, a series of experiments were performed to examine the accuracy of the proposed simulation modeling, including the effects of different shapes of steel members, fasteners, and applying and not applying a dowel connection. The results indicated that the simulation modeling could adequately determine strength at a deflection of 1/360 of the span. The ratio of difference between the experimental results and the simulation modeling results was less than 10% if a dowel connection at the web was applied. However, the ratio of difference reached 26% and 24% in the TSC beams without a dowel connection at the web that were fastened with screws and nails at the flange, respectively, revealing the importance of applying a dowel connection at the web. Moreover, the strength of the TSC beams with a dowel connection at the web that were fastened by screws was approximately 15% higher than that of TSC beams without screw fasteners. In conclusion, the proposed simulation modeling can provide designers with a method for estimating the initial stiffness and strength of TSC beams within a deflection of 1/360 of the span, supporting the future application of TSC beams in construction.

Keywords: timber–steel composite; simulation modeling; initial stiffness; dowel connection; fasteners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1220/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1220/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1220-:d:141513

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().