New steel-timber composite beam, Nordic system

The design of new steel‐timber composite beam, called Nordic system, is proposed. The beam consists of CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) slabs that are installed on the bottom flanges of an asymmetric welded steel box. The composite action is achieved through connection the slabs to the steel beam by steel plates which are screwed to the timber and bolted to the top flange of the beam. The composite action reduces the stresses of the steel beam compared to the pure steel beam without composite action. This means that there exists a large potential to search lightweight, dry slim floor, low emission and cost optimal solutions using this composite beam due to large variations for available steel grades of the welded beam, as has been shown previously for pure welded steel beams.