Ultra-thin topping upgrades for improved serviceability performance

Jonathan Skinner, Richard Harris, Kevin Paine, Peter Walker, Julie Bregulla

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Timber floors can be refurbished by connecting a concrete topping to the timber joists; stiffening the floor and reducing serviceability problems, including vibration. Research to date has focused on upgrade solutions with relatively thick toppings (40mm or greater). This paper presents a novel, ultra-thin topping solution where the topping is placed at a thickness of 20mm or less. Advantages of the solution include: reducing the mass added to the existing structure and minimising the change in floor to ceiling height whilst delivering a significant increase in floor stiffness. This paper reports the findings from the serviceability testing of an upgraded, full scale timber floor. Measurements prior to and after the upgrade are compared, including: elastic testing under static loads, vibration testing and short-term bending tests. The paper also compares the results with simple analytical approaches and design limits prescribed in Eurocode 5 Part 1-1.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)673-681
Number of pages9
JournalAdvanced Materials Research
Volume778
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Event2nd International Conference on Structural Health Assessment of Timber Structures, SHATIS 2013 - Trento , Italy
Duration: 4 Sept 20136 Sept 2013

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