Effects of interconnections between timber floor elements: dynamic and static evaluations of structural scale tests

Long-span timber floor elements increase the flexibility of a building and exhibit a significant market potential. Timber floor elements are endeavouring to fulfil this potential, but building projects employing long-span timber floors have encountered drawbacks. High costs and vibration performance are challenging, and the timber industry is under substantial pressure to find attractive solutions for building components with otherwise favourable environmental features. Only a few existing studies have investigated serviceability sensitivity in relation to timber floor connections. Interconnections are inexpensive to produce and install and may offer a resource-efficient approach to improving serviceability performance. In the present study, the effect of interconnections is investigated in a full-scale structural test. Floor elements positioned in different configurations have been tested for static and dynamic performance using different types of interconnections. The observed effects of interconnection types vary according to the configuration and direction of mode shapes, and are assessed in terms of shift in frequency, damping and resonant energy. These can all be utilised in combination with observed differences in the deflection parameter. The present work demonstrates that connections between timber elements have significant effects on timber floor serviceability and may offer interesting solutions to improve the vibration performance of long-span timber floors.