Technical Field

[001] The present invention relates to a novel composite floor system. More particularly, it relates to a structural floor system comprising pre-stressed intersecting modular truss and concrete deck for use in various structures.

Background Art

[002] In current building construction, particularly in commercial and residential multistory buildings, there are some common floor systems in long spans in steel and concrete skeleton structures. Usage of poured in place concrete slabs, prefabricated concrete joists with slab or pre-stressed and post-tensioned reinforced concrete decks have been proposed in concrete structures while in steel skeleton structures, composite joist decking is the dominant floor system. Each of which, although having advantages, has limitations on loading, operation and construction.

Summary of Invention

[003] The present technology is directed to a structural floor system for multi-story concrete and steel structure buildings. The invention framework generally comprises a grid of intersecting modular trusses. Each truss is manufactured beforehand in the factory or manufactory in a controlled environment. In the construction field, the trusses are assembled to build the girder trusses. In the next stage, the said trusses erected and mounted on the main beams. Then, the other intersecting trusses attached the girder truss to build a grid of trusses. The connection of each truss to another would be done by using cross-shaped plates and bolted connection. Before pouring the concrete, by running a wire strand system from the lower cord and the diagonal members of the said girder trusses, the strand system is pulled at the specified force and anchored at the upper chord. The tension induced in the wire strand system pushing the truss grid to run upward leading the reduction in final deflection of the floor system. Next, the wooden or metal formwork is placed between the space of the trusses just below the truss upper cord such that it completely embeds in the concrete. The truss lower cord can be used as a support for the slab formwork. The mesh reinforcement placed on the upper cord of the truss and the concrete is poured. This system can be installed with or without shoring.

Technical Problem

[004] The drawback of pour in place concrete slab is the high thickness of the slab in long spans which has heavy self-weight and impose the excess amount of weight to the structures. Clearly, more weight means heavier columns and beams to support the floor, higher inertia and earthquake force and as a result, higher consumption of steel and concrete. In some case, it even limits the height of the building for a particular soil bearing capacity.

[005] Composite joist decking system in a large span needs large joist. In these cases, overall floor system is relatively deep and the mechanical and electrical devices which run below the joists leads to decrease the height of the story more (often causing the building to be taller). Moreover, these large joists cannot transport and erect without the help of heavy crane. When it comes to the vibration issue, because of the relatively weak stiffness, vibration under moving load are heavy and the height of the joist should be increased sharply in spans more than 10 meter in regular multi-story buildings. In steel structures, it is the practice to use one-way slab, which means spanning in one direction. One-way slab tends to deflect more than two-way does specifically at the middle of the span. Needless to say, that the levelness and flatness can improve by using two-way slab.

Solution to Problem

[006] To cope technical problem stated above, it would be desirable to provide a novel floor system having enough stiffness to have less deflection and vibration, imposes minimum gravity load due to its low weight, easy to run mechanical ducks, pre-manufactured in a controlled environment and finally has the merits of modularity to ease construction and erection. Advantageous Effects of Invention

[007] The present invention brings about a number of advantageous which is described hereunder. An intersecting truss system reduces span of the topping slab, thereby reducing its thickness in comparison with most floor systems that act one-way. The introduction of a strand system installed in the vicinity of some truss members, pre-stress is created prior to the loading of the floor which makes the roof system to behave rigid in out of plane and reduces deflection and vibration during operation.

[008] All parts of the roof system including the truss units and assembly devices are constructed beforehand in the factory in a controlled environment and only assemblage accrued in the field site. Therefore, the quality of construction and execution improved. In addition, usage of a system of intersecting truss which arranged in diagonal or parallel, causes the distribution of the floor loads to four-surrounded beams. This mechanism increases the degree of indeterminacy.

[009] By passing concrete through the holes created in the upper cord of the truss units and imbedding it in the topping concrete, a composite roof system is achievable and there is no need for the studs to do this. The free space between the truss members allows for the passage of electrical and mechanical facilities which reduces the thickness of the floor. Plus, the truss network makes it easy to have support for fake ceiling.

[010] Due to limited tensile or compressive strength, as well as a relatively short length of truss members, it is preferable to use cold-formed sections to minimize weight of the steel consumed.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG.1

[Oi l] [fig.1] illustrates perspective view of the floor system and truss units

FIG.2

[012] [fig.2] describes schematic representation of a modular truss unit and its components FIG.2A

[013] [fig.2A] is a perspective view of anchorage blocking system FIG.2B

[014] [fig.2B] is a perspective view of strand clamp used for fastening the wire strand

FIG.3

[015] [fig.3] shows a typical connection of floor system to steel beam

FIG.4

[016] [fig.4] shows a typical connection of floor system to concrete beam

FIG.5

[017] [fig.5] is a perspective view of truss unit, support of fake ceiling and mechanical duct way

Description of Embodiments

[018] A new composite floor system for covering long spans in multi-story residential and commercial buildings, method of construction and erection are discuses herein. In the following description, for proposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide though understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intend to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

[019] The present invention will now be described by referencing the appended figures representing preferred embodiments. FIG.l illustrates a perspective view of a floor system and its components. The system generally comprises a plurality of truss-shaped units 1A, placed on perimeter structural beams 16,19, assembly devices 5 for attaching the said units to provide girder trusses IB, a wire strand 6 to introduce the pre-tension to the floor system and the topping concrete slab 25 for gravity and lateral loads bearing. According to one embodiment of the invention, trusses units 1A are arranged is a diagonal pattern which bring more in-plane and out of plane stiffness to the floor system. Alternatively, parallel arrangement of trusses also may be used without departing the scope of this invention.

[020] According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, each truss-shaped unit 1A made up of upper cord 1, lower cord 2 and vertical 4 and diagonal 3 members as truss web. U or C- shaped cold-formed profile is used to construct the truss units 1A. Although utilizing of hot- rolled members are also under the scope of this invention, cold-formed is preferable due to its higher strength to weight ratio. The length of each truss unit 1A depends on the floor span, but for the transportation and modular design consideration, the maximum length would be around 3 meters. Because the upper 1 and diagonal 3 cord are under compression after loading, the minimum suitable thickness for cold-formed members would be 3 mm. The said minimum thickness not only provide acceptable resistance against different modes of buckling, but it also meets the minimum criterion for corrosion.

[021] FIG.2 illustrates a perspective view of a truss unit 1A. The upper cord 1 is placed upwardly to comply the composite section by embedding completely in the slab 25 above, plus, providing a better condition for connection to web members 3,4. likewise, the lower cord 2 is projected downwardly to provide a better condition for connection. The diagonal member 3 consisted of a straight member that is cut and bended from the flange at two sections just at the intersection with the upper cord 1. The vertical members 4 are placed at the specified distance from the edge of each truss unit 1 A in such a way that it be possible to install splice assemblies 5. The diagonal members 3 attached to the mid span of the upper cord 1, support the said cord against bending, induced by concrete and gravity weight, transforming the bending to axial compression force because truss members design to withstand against axial forces not bending. Triangular space between the members can be used as mechanical or electrical duct way 22. Furthermore, according to the FIG.5, the fake ceiling 23 or its support 24 can be attached to the truss lower cord 2.

[022] The unit trusses 1A pre-manufactured in a factory or manufactory and then are shipped to the workshop for installation. Welded or bolted connection 15 can be chosen for connection. In the upper cord 1 of each truss unit 1A, holes 26 are created in a regular distance along the span of truss units 1A on either side of flange. The hole 26 can be circular or non-circular. Dimension and Center to center hole spacing would be according to the cross-sectional dimension of members. The passage of slab concrete 25 from said holes 26 leads to the composite action of truss and the concrete slab 25.

[023] Once all the truss units 1A were shipped to the construction field, the assemblage operation starts with splicing the truss units 1A to build the main girder truss IB which, as first stage, is placed diagonally between two columns. Connecting each truss unit 1A to another will be made by using cross-sectional plates 5 and bolted connection 15 in both upper 1 and lower cord 2. It should be noted that attachment of all the cross-sectional edges by splicing assemblies 5 is necessary to accommodate axial force transfer. The said cross-sectional plates 5 are configured four-sided to provide suitable condition for connection in joints. When the said girder truss IB is assembled, lift up to the column bay and installed at its level.

[024] FIG.3 shows a perspective view representing connection of girder truss IB to beam 16 in steel skeleton structures. The connection type can be pinned or rigid utilizing bolted, welded or any other type of connection. According to the preferred embodiment on the invention, the connection provided by seat plate 17 with stiffeners 18 at lower cord while the upper cord 1 is located on the beam flange. In the next stage, the other parallel girder trusses IB put in place according to the mentioned details. Refer to FIG.l the remaining truss units 1A on other direction are attached to girder trusses IB to form a grid of intersecting trusses. FIG.4 shows a perspective view representing connection of girder truss IB to beam 19 in concrete skeleton structures. According to the figure, the upper 1 and lower cord 2 of the truss sit inside the beam 19 during placing the beam rebars 20,21 and then by pouring the concrete, connection is established. In this case, using a shoring system can facilitate the process of installation and erection of the truss system.

[025] According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, by running the wire strand 6 from the lower cord 2 and the diagonal members 3, the strand 6 is pulled at the specified force and anchored at the upper chord 1 of the girder trusses 2B. A number of sleeves 12,13 like steel pipe are fitted inside the diagonal 3 and upper cord 2 truss member to ease the process of the said wire strand 6 crossing. The said specific force can be considered equal to the amount of required force needed to neutralize the deflection of gravity load. Applying forces more than that, may be difficult from the construction and cost view point.

[026] According to the FIG. 2A, each wire strand 6 passes through a wedge hole 7 and steel washer 9, located on the upper cord 1 of truss, and then returns back from the other hole and locked along the wire strand 6 by some strand clamps 11, FIG. 2B. The steel washer 9 has five holes, four holes are installed for the passage of each wire strand 6 and the mid one 10 is for the adjusting screw 8. By twisting the screw 8 by a torque-meter the require controlled tension create in the strand system 6, makes the floor system stiffer. The wire strand 6 system also tolerates part of the load, increase the bearing capacity of the floor system.

[027] It should be appreciated that the propose of using wire strand 6 is to improve the structural performance of the floor system. It is obvious that the system without strand 6 is also stable and have all the said advantageous above, so the floor system without the wire strand is also in the scope of this invention.

[028] In the preferred embodiment, the wooden or metal formwork is placed between the truss quadrangle grid and just below the upper cord 2 so that the upper cord 1 can embed in the slab concrete 25. the lower cord 2 of the truss can be used as supporting for the topping formwork eliminating the overall and large scaffolding under the floor. The mesh reinforcement 14 for concrete deck 25 is placed on the upper cord 1 of the truss. For very large spans, may be two layers of reinforcing grid used instead of a one single layer. Referring to FIG.l, Concrete is poured in accordance with technical specification in the field. Due to the strength and stability of the floor system, there is no need for high-strength concrete to be used as it is used in floors such as pre-tensioned or post-tensioned. Each quadrangle forms a four-sided support for the slab 25. In the structural term the framework provides a two-way slab so the slab is stiffer as compared to the slab with the same slab thickness that have one-way support as a result, the thickness of the topping slab 25 can be reduced.

[029] While preferred material for the elements have been described, the system is no limited by these materials like steel, aluminum, plastic, metal alloys, wood and other materials in various embodiment of the present invention. This invention is not also limited to method of construction and the structural component shapes like truss configurations, strand system patterns and connection devices and assemblies as shown in the drawings, Instead, different way of construction, structural member and components may be used without departing from the scope of this invention. In addition, other types of deck can be suitable for this system and are in the scope of this invention. Therefore, this invention is not limited to pour in place concrete slab as decking.