Experimental and numerical investigations of aluminium-timber composite beams with bolted connections

This paper presents an investigation of aluminium-timber composite (ATC) beams subjected to bending. In the proposed ATC beam, a timber slab was connected to an aluminium beam using bolts. ATC beams are a relatively new civil engineering solution and they are still being developed. The authors conducted push-out tests of the bolted connections and bending tests of the ATC beams. The slip moduli k(0.4) and k(0.6), and the load-carrying capacity of the connection were determined experimentally. Furthermore, the short-term behaviour, load carrying-capacity, mode of failure, load-deflection and load-slip response of the ATC beams with bolted connections were investigated. What is more, the authors used a calculation procedure for steel-concrete composite elements to calculate the load-carrying capacity of the ATC beams. The results from the analytical estimations were compared with the results from the laboratory tests. In addition, two non-linear finite element models of the tested composite beam were developed and verified against the experimental results. In the three-dimensional finite element model, laminated veneer lumber was described as an elastic-perfectly plastic material, and, as a consequence, this model did not need many input parameters. In the two-dimensional finite element model, laminated veneer lumber was described as an orthotropic material and its failure was captured using the Hashin damage model. It was an advanced model which needed many input parameters. The numerical results were similar to the experimental results.