Stiffness Evaluation of Stressed-Skin Panels of Mixed Construction

Abstract

Stressed-skin panels (SSP) of mixed construction were made of various combinations of wood-based materials or lightweight concrete plates as the compression flange and a thin steel-sheet tension flange. An approximate method was developed for computing the stiffness of a SSP with flanges attached with various degrees of rigidity to spaced timber webs loaded in bending. Using this method, SSP deflection was calculated with a magnification factor, which reflected different slip moduli for joints between the webs and two flanges and by twice utilizing a two-layer model. The deflection predictions using this simple procedure compared well with the results of experiments performed on all panel types studied. However, when the load level exceeded approximately 60% of SSP capacity (which is well above the expected stress level in service), the predictions became less accurate. Finally, it was found that thin steel sheet tension flanges improve the total stiffness of the wood-based SSP.