EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTION ADHESIVE AND JOIST VARIABILITY ON THE DEFLECTION BEHAVIOR OF LIGHT-FRAME WOOD FLOORS

A total of 16,000 light-frame, structural floors of a geometry consist ent with those used in residential construction throughout North Ameri ca was numerically analyzed to determine deflection characteristics un der a constant uniformly distributed load of 40 Ibf/ ft(2) (59.5 Pa). The intent of these analyses was to determine the effect of joist vari ability on the deflection behavior of light-frame floors and to quanti fy the contribution of elastomeric construction adhesives CECA) in red ucing the deflection of such systems. The joist property (modulus of e lasticity, MOE) was allowed to vary in a systematic fashion between 75 0 (5.17) and 3,000 (20.07) ksi (MPa) in increments of 250 ksi (1.72 MP a). In addition, the variability of the joists (at each value of MOE) varied between coefficient of variation (COV) values of 0.05 to 0.26 i n increments of 0.03. One hundred floors were evaluated at each mean M OE value and at each COV value for the joists. All other sheathing and connector properties [nail slip modulus = 25,500 lbf/in (4466 N/mm)] remained constant. However, after the 100 floors were analyzed using o nly nailed connections between joist and sheathing, the same 100 floor s were analyzed with ECA used with the nails. The results indicated th at the contribution of the ECA to reduced floor deflection under unifo rmly distributed loads was dependent in large part on the mean stiffne ss of the floor joists and to a much lesser extent on the COV of the j oists. For joists of lower stiffness, the contribution of ECA had a mo re pronounced effect on mitigating the deflection level of the floors. Reductions of nearly 12% were realized when the mean joist MOE was 75 0 ksi. For floors made with stiffer joists (mean MOE = 3,000 ksi), flo or deflections were reduced by only about 6% when adhesive was used. T he presence of ECA between joist and sheathing also had the effect of reducing the variability of floor behavior. When components were conne cted only with nails, the COV of floor deflections varied between 0.02 and 0.11. However, when ECA were incorporated into the assembly, the COV of floor deflections ranged from less than 0.01 to only about 0.04 . It can be concluded that the presence of ECA of the type used in thi s analysis can reduce light-frame wood floor deflection by 6 to 12% de pending on joist stiffness.