Hysteretic Behavior of Bolt Connections in Timber–Concrete Composite Bridges: Experimental and Numerical Research

The hysteretic behavior of bolt connections in a timber–concrete composite (TCC) bridge was investigated. Six identical TCC specimens were designed with bolted connections and subjected to reversed cyclic loading tests. The failure modes, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation, strength degradation, and hysteretic responses of the specimens were evaluated. The experimental results indicate that the predominant failure mode was a dual-hinge mechanism in the bolts of the TCC specimens. The TCC specimens exhibited satisfactory energy dissipation and achieved a mean ductility factor of 6.76. A finite-element model was developed to simulate the cyclic response of the tested TCC specimens. The simulated data are in good agreement with the experimental data. The experimental and numerical results reported are useful for the development of design guidelines for TCC bridges with bolted connections.