The concept of horizontal shear connection utilization on woodââ?¬â??concrete beams intends to be an alternative connection\ndetail for composite woodââ?¬â??concrete decks. The volume of sawn-wood is over three times more expensive than concrete, in Brazil.\nIn order to be competitive in the Brazilian market we need a composite deck with the least amount of wood and a simple and\ninexpensive connection detail. This research project uses medium to high density tropical hardwoods managed from the Brazilian\nAmazon region and construction steel rods. The beams studied are composed of a bottom layer of staggered wood boards and a top\nlayer of concrete. The wood members are laterally nailed together to form a wide beam, and horizontal rebar connectors are\ninstalled before the concrete layer is applied on top. Two sets of woodââ?¬â??concrete layered beams with horizontal rebar connectors\n(6 and 8) were tested in third-point loading flexural bending. The initial results reveal medium composite efficiency for the beams\ntested. An improvement on the previously conceived connection detail (set with six connectors) for the composite woodââ?¬â??concrete\nstructural floor system was achieved by the set with eight connectors. The new layout of the horizontal rebar connectors added\nhigher composite efficiency for the beams tested. Further analysis with advanced rigorous numerical Finite Element Modeling is\nsuggested to optimize the connection parameters. Composite woodââ?¬â??concrete decks can attend a large demand for pedestrian\nbridges, as well as residential and commercial slabs in the Brazilian Amazon.
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