The authors present an experimental study of a suspended floor element connection (sheet steel hangers) employed in the Masonite Flexible Building (MFB) system. The hangers are mounted with screws and are pre-attached to the floor elements at manufacturing. This arrangement makes the design of the hanger critical with respect to safety and load transfer redundancy, since the screws transfer all the loads, both withdrawal and shear forces can act simultaneously. Tests have been carried out to examine the structural behaviour of the hanger. The two most critical load cases, vertical floor load and horizontal wind suction load, and three different screw joint configurations were investigated. The results indicate that the vertical distance between the screw joint and the upper edge of the rim beam should be increased and that withdrawal forces on the screws should be kept as low as possible. Some suggestions for improving the present design are given and a modified design is proposed to enhance the load-bearing capacity and to improve the overall safety and redundancy.
Session 12