Long-span timber flooring systems: A systematic review from structural performance and design considerations to constructability and sustainability aspects

The recent energy and environmental crises and corresponding regulations have increased interest in replacing conventional materials with sustainable materials in construction. Due to the outstanding properties of wood, such as recyclability, reusability and natural renewability, it is considered a sustainable material. In addition, wood has a high strength-to-weight ratio and outstanding acoustic and thermal insulation properties, which make it an appropriate construction material in numerous applications, including in main structural members such as beams, columns and flooring systems as well as in non-structural members, such as windows, doorframes and insulating envelopes. Recent advancements in the production of engineering wood and efficient adhesives have made the fabrication of structural members with large cross sections, long spans and structural properties comparable to steel and reinforced concrete, feasible and cost-effective. As a result, interest in long-span timber buildings has increased greatly. In this paper, a comprehensive review of research studies investigating various aspects of long-span timber structures, including material properties, structural performance and sustainability, are presented. In particular, over 100 research papers were systematically reviewed to study the constructability of long-span flooring systems. The techniques and methodologies available for the fabrication, analysis and experimental investigations of structural flooring systems are also reviewed in detail. Overall, this comprehensive review helps to achieve a greater understanding of structural static and dynamic responses of long-span timber flooring systems, and undertaking the challenges and opportunities presented in this paper could significantly contribute to the improvement of the structural design to reach optimised, sustainable, and constructible systems.