FEM models of composite timber-lightweight concrete floor systems

Paper presents the main principals in designing wood-lightweight concrete composite floor structures using FEM models. All design-related analyses are performed by means of the FEA COSMOS/M program. Paper emphasises some important details in FEM model design (how to choose appropriate finite elements for different types of materials, how to connect concrete slab and timber beams to work together as they really works in nature). The results obtained by COSMOS/M FEM model are compared with the results from fullscale laboratory floor test on the real model with the same geometry, boundary conditions and loads. Compared to real measured values of stresses and displacements, the FEM models show very good accuracy. They could be therefore recommended in design of composite structures.