Long-term out-of-plane testing of timber floors strengthened with innovative timber-to-timber solutions

The outcome of an experimental campaign on the long-term behaviour of timber floors retrofitted with timber-to-timber composite methods is presented. Four diaphragm specimens, 5.2 m long (5 m span) were tested out-ofplane. Each specimen consisted of a solid wood-spruce joist strengthened with a crosslam panel. A layer of timber boards was placed in between the joist and the panel to simulate the existing flooring. The specimens, were subjected to uniformly distributed loading in a climatic controlled chamber. A patented procedure that enables to apply a pre-stressed state and a pre-camber to the composite floor joists by just using screw fasteners, was adopted. Different typologies and arrangements of screws were tested in order to maximize the performance (cost/effectiveness) that can be achieved by employing the above mentioned procedure. Uplift values of approximately 1/300th of the diaphragm span were registered at the end of the cambering procedure. After an initial testing phase (duration approximately equal to 3h) where the loading was consistent with the characteristic combination, the specimens were set for long-term testing under an imposed load equal to that specified by the quasi-permanent combination.