Shear Behaviors of Steel-Plate Connections for Timber-Concrete Composite Beams with Prefabricated Concrete Slabs

To promote the development of timber-concrete composite (TCC) structures, it is necessary to propose the assembly-type connections with high assembly efficiency and shear performances. This article presented the experimental results of the innovative steel-plate connections for TCC beams using prefabricated concrete slabs. The steel-plate connections consisted of the screws and the steel-plates. The steel-plates were partly embedded in the concrete slabs. The concrete slabs and the timber beams were connected by screws through the steel-plates. The parameters researched in this article included screw number, angle steel as the reinforcement for anchoring, and shallow notches on the timber surface to restrict the slip of the steel-plates. Experimental results were dis-cussed in terms of failure modes, ultimate bearing capacities, and slip moduli. It was found that increasing the number of screws could lead to the obvious improvement on the ultimate bearing capacities and the slip moduli at the ultimate state; and the angle steel as the reinforcement showed the slight influence on the ultimate bearing capacities and the slip moduli. The application of the shallow notch can greatly improve the ultimate bearing capacities and the slip moduli. The calculation models for the ultimate bearing capacities and the slip moduli of the steel-plate connections with and without shallow notches were proposed, which showed good accuracy compared with the experimental results.