Mechanical behavior of the timber–terrazzo composite floor

Abstract The mechanical behavior of the timber–terrazzo floor is investigated in this paper. The presentation refers to the traditional Venetian floor; however, the research was comprehensive and hence the results of this paper include any timber floor finished with terrazzo flooring. The first part of the paper presents experimental results from laboratory tests performed at different load stages on two real scale masonry buildings, differing only for the presence of the Venetian floor. The experiments also included inducing damage artificially. The experimental data were then elaborated to describe peculiarities of the traditional structural system. The test results presented in the paper prove that the terrazzo is an important load-bearing component, since it provides the floor with substantial extra-stiffness and extra-strength. The test results also prove that even a high level of damage does not reduce significantly the stiffness of this type of floor. Research activity was then directed toward analytical modeling. The second part of the paper presents how the experimental data were used to construct a predictive theoretical model, whose reliability is proven by the good agreement between the results from the model and the findings from the tests. The model can be used to assess the stiffness and load-carrying capacity of timber–terrazzo floors and as a basis for floor rehabilitation.