Comprehensive Laboratory Test Series for Timber-Concrete Composite Structures

Timber-concrete composite structures are not as widespread as traditional steel-concrete fabrications; this structural design still has many critical points that require tests on laboratory specimens. This paper presents the complex testing process of timber-concrete composite structures, which must be followed from the investigation of the possibilities of connecting timber and concrete to each other, through the tests of bended beams acting as timber-concrete composites, to the laboratory tests of full-scale custom-designed timber-concrete composite bridge structures subjected to both concentrated and distributed loads. In this study, to improve the flexural properties of timber beams, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates are attached externally to timber elements. To verify the behavior of the designed structure, we built a full-scale experimental structure and performed a load test. In the laboratory tests, the serviceability limit states, standard loads and load arrangements were investigated. The results of the loading experiments were evaluated. The bridge structures in this article will be placed outdoors after completion of the tests, where they will be used as pedestrian-bicycle bridges. In the case of the examined structures, it was an important aspect, to use elements that are commercially available and suitable for use in the Hungarian design and regulatory systems.