Development of LVL-Concrete Composite Floor Systems

Abstract

The growing enormous number of mid-rise timber buildings in European metropolitan areas leads to the investigation of a possible optimization potential in the use of timber in combination with other building materials. Various timber-based composite floor systems, in particular the combination of laminated veneer lumber products and other conventional building materials, such as conventional or steel fiber reinforced concrete coupled by various sorts of dowel-type or notched connections, are studied. In regard to structural, economical and resource efficiency on overall component level, the extent of interrelationships in the development of multifaceted optimized system solutions can be shown. This paper shows the results of the feasibility studies and the conceptional design. The objective of the studies is to develop application-optimized multi-layered structural composite floor systems with a special focus on the joint design of the various thereby used connection types between the coupled composite layers. The conceptual feasibility studies illustrate the capabilities in the application of laminated veneer lumber products in composite floor systems. Consequently, the presented results enable engineers, as well as builders and planners, to further strengthen the implementation of timber-based composites within modern building applications. A construction-optimized design with increased resource efficiency can be achieved.