Bureau of Standards

\ APR 1 1 1939

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

BUILDING

MATERIALS

AND

STRUCTURES

REPORT BMS15

Structural Properties of

"Wheeling Long-Span Steel Floos" ? Construction Sponsored by\ the'3 '

* , Wheeling Corrugating Qorripany' • C)

HERBERT L. WHITTEMORE

AMBROSE H. STANG and

VINCENT B. PHELAN

>'{

NATIONAL

BUREAU OF STANDARDS
The program ol research on building materials and structures undertaken by the

National Bureau of Standards is planned with the assistance of the following advisory

committee designated by the Subcommittee on Design and Construction of the Central

Housing Committee.

TECHNICAL RESEARCH GROUP

Walter Junge, Federal Housing Administration, Chairman

A. C. Shire, United States Housing Authority, Vice Chairman

A. G. Bear,

Veterans' Administration.

Pierre Blouke,

Home Owners' Loan Corporation.

C. W. Chamberlain,

Procurement Division. Jos. M. DallaValle,

Public Health Service.

Hugh L. Dryden,

National Bureau of Standards.

G. E. Knox,

Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy

Department.

Sterling R. March, Secretary

The program is administered and coordinated by the following staff committee of

the Bureau:

Hugh L. Dryden, Chairman

P. H. Bates W. E. Emley A. S. McAllister

H. C. Dickinson G. E. F. Lundell H. S. Rawdon

The Forest Products Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture

is cooperating with the National Bureau of Standards in studies of wood constructions.

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE • Marry I .. 1 [opkins, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • Lyman J. Briggs, Director

BUILDING MATERIALS

and STRUCTURES

REPORT BMS15

Structural Properties of

"Wheeling Long-Span Steel Floor" Construction

Sponsored by the

Wheeling Corrugating Company

by HERBERT L. WHITTEMORE, AMBROSE H. STANG

and vincent b. phelan

ISSUED MARCH 21, 1939

The National Bureau of Standards is a fact-finding organization;

it does not "approve" any particular material or method of construction. The technical findings in this series of reports are to be construed accordingly.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE • WASHINGTON

FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, WASHINGTON, D. C. • PRICE

!939

IO CENTS
Foreword

This report is one of a series issued by the National Bureau of Standards on the structural properties of constructions intended for low-cost houses and apartments. Practically all of these constructions were sponsored by groups within the building industry

which advocate and promote the use of such constructions and which have built and

submitted representative specimens as outlined in report BMS2, Methods of Determining the Structural Properties of Low-Cost House Constructions. The sponsor is responsible for the representative character of the specimens and for the detailed description

given in each report. The Bureau is responsible for the accuracy of the test data.

This report covers only the load-deformation relations and strength of the structural

element submitted when subjected to transverse, impact, and concentrated loads by

standardized methods simulating the loads to which the element would be subjected in

actual service. It may be feasible to determine later the heat transmission at ordinary

tempera tures and the fire resistance of this same construction and perhaps other properties.

The National Bureau of Standards does not "approve" a construction, nor does it express an opinion as to the merits of a construction for reasons given in reports BMSl

and BMS2. The technical facts on this and other constructions provide the basic data

from which architects and engineers can determine whether a construction meets desired

performance requirements.

Lyman J. Briggs, Director.

[ii]
Structural Properties of "Wheeling Long-Span Steel Floor"

Construction Sponsored by the Wheeling Corrugating Company

by HERBERT L. WHITTEMORE, AMBROSE H. STANG, and VINCENT B. PHELAN

CON T E N T S

Page

Foreword n

I. Introduction 1 II. Sponsor and product 2

III. Specimens and tests 2 IV. Floor AY 2

1. Sponsor's statement 2

(a) Materials 2

(b) Description 3

Page IV. Floor AY—Continued.

1. Sponsor's statement—Continued.

(c) Comments 4

2. Transverse load 5

3. Impact load 5

4. Concentrated load 6

V. Selected references 7

ABSTRACT

For the program on the determination of the structural properties of low-cost house constructions, the Wheeling Corrugating Co. submitted six specimens

representing their "Wheeling Long-Span Steel Floor"

construction. The specimens were subjected to transverse, impact,

and concentrated loads. For each of these loads three

like specimens were tested, the concentrated-load tests being made on undamaged portions of the specimens

used for the impact tests. The deformation under load and the set after the load was removed were measured

for uniform increments of load, except for concentrated

loads, for which the set only was determined. The

strength under transverse load was also determined.

The results are presented graphically and in a table.

I. INTRODUCTION

In order to provide technical facts on the

performance of constructions which might be

used in low-cost houses, to discover promising

constructions, and ultimately to determine the

properties necessary for acceptable performance, the National Bureau of Standards has

invited the building industry to cooperate in a program of research on building materials and

structures for use in low-cost houses and apartments. The objectives of this program are described in report BMSl, Research on Building

Materials and Structures for Use in Low-Cost

Housing, 1 and that part of the program relating

1 Price 10 cents. See cover page II.

to structural properties in report BMS2, Methods of Determining the Structural Properties of

Low-Cost House Constructions. 2 Conventional wood-frame constructions, in- cluding those for floors, have been subjected by

the Forest Products Laboratory of the United

States Department of Agriculture to a series of standardized laboratory tests to provide data on the properties of some constructions for

which the behavior in service is generally

known. These data will be given in a subsequent report in this series. This report describes the structural properties of a floor construction sponsored by one of

the manufacturers in the building industry.

The specimens were subjected to transverse,

impact, and concentrated loads, simulating

loads to which the floor of a house is subjected.

In actual service, transverse loads are applied

to floors by furniture and by the occupants;

impact loads by objects falling on the floor or by persons jumping on the floor; and concentrated loads by furniture, for example, the legs

of a piano.

The deformation and set under each increment of load were measured because the suitability of a floor construction depends in part on

its resistance to deformation under load and

whether it returns to its original size and shape

when the load is removed.

2 Price 10 cents.

126681°—39 [1]
II. SPONSOR AND PRODUCT

The specimens were submitted by the Wheeling Corrugating Co., Wheeling, W. Va., and

represented a construction marketed under the

trade name "Wheeling Long-Span Steel Floor

System. ' ' This construction consisted of sheetsteel channel-shaped joists, assembled by welding the wide overlapping upper flanges to form

a continuous sheet-steel subfloor to which the

finish floor and ceiling were attached.

III. SPECIMENS AND TESTS

The floor construction was assigned the symbol AY and the specimens were assigned designations in accordance with table 1. Table 1.

Specimen designations

Specimen designation Load Load applied

T1,T2,T3 Transverse. .. Upper face.

11, 12, 13 Impact Do.

PI, P2, P3 * Concentrated Do.

a These specimens were undamaged portions of the specimens used

for the impact tests. The specimens were tested in accordance with

BMS2, Methods of Determining the Structural

Properties of Low-Cost House Constructions.3 This report also gives the requirements for the

specimens and describes the presentation of the

results of the tests, particularly the loaddeformation graphs.

The specimens were tested on July 18 and 19,

1938, at either 28 or 29 clays after the finish coat of plaster had been applied. The sponsor's

representative witnessed the tests.

IV. FLOOR AY

1. Sponsor's Statement

(a) Materials

Steel.—Hot-rolled copper-bearing sheets, tensile strength 45,000 to 55,000 lb/in2

. The

chemical composition of the steel is given in

table 2. Wheeling Steel Corporation's "CopR-Loy."

Paint.—Three parts black asphaltum paint

and four parts naphtha. Blue Ribbon Paint

Co.

Welds.—Fillet welds made by metal arc welding, using direct current. The welding

3 Price 10 cents.

rods were Lincoln Arc Welding Co.'s "Fleetweld," No. 7 coated.

Table 2.

Chemical composition of the steel

Element

Content

Minimum Maximum

Carbon

Percent

0. 08 .30

Percent

0. 12 .45

.015 .0355

.25

Manganese _ Phosphorus . Sulfur Copper. .20

Asphalt roofing. —Rag-felt base, saturated

with asphalt, mica-surfaced; weight, 55 lb/108

ft2

. Ruberoid Co.'s "Ruberoicl Smooth Roll

Roofing No. 100."

Asphalt.—Softening point 175° to 190° F.

Philip Carey Co.'s "Manco."

Wood.

Sleepers, beech, maple, and ash, about 80

percent of material was practically clear stock

(free from defects) and the other 20 percent

contained a few minor defects. These three

species have about equal strengths.

Flooring, oak, white, clear, tongued-andgrooved, end-matched.

The species and grades of the woods were

determined by representatives of the Forest

Service of the United States Department of

Agriculture. Screws.—Self-tapping, %in., No. 14 (0.242-in.

diam), 10 threads per in., binding head, hardened. Parker-Kalon Co.'s "Type A."

Nails.

Roofing, galvanized, 1 and l}{ in. long, No.

10 gage (0.1350-in. diam), with %-in. diam

paper-felt washers.

Finishing, 6d, 2 in. long, No. 13 gage

(0.0915-in. diam).

Lath.—Flat-ribbed, expanded-metal, by

%-in. diamond mesh, formed from open-hearth

sheet steel, No. 28 United States Standard

Gage (0.0153 in. thick), coated with black

paint; weight, 3.4 lb/yd2

. Wheeling Steel

Corporation's "Bar X."

Lath clips.—Wire, steel, annealed, galvanized,

No. 14 steel wire gage (0.0800-in. diam before

galvanizing).

Plaster.—The materials used for the plaster were United States Gypsum Co.'s "Red Top"

gypsum plaster, Potomac River building sand,

[2]
Certain-teed Products Co.'s "Blue Rapids

Gaging Plaster" and "Beaver Finishing Lime."

The physical properties of the plaster, determined by the Lime and Gypsum Section of

the National Bureau of Standards, are given

in table 3.

Table 3.Physical properties of the plaster

Material Time of set

Ratio of plaster to sand a

Tensile

strength b Compressive strength >

Gypsum plaster (neat)... Sanded plaster (scratch)

.

Sanded plaster (brown)

hr

10 1:1.8

1:2.5

lb/in.'290

135

80

lb/in.'

830

3S0

a Average of 2 determinations.

b Average of 6 determinations. The neat gypsum plaster was tested in ac- cordance with Federal Specification SS-P-401

for Plaster; Gypsum. The tensile and compressive strengths of the scratch and brown

sanded plasters were obtained on representative samples of the wet plaster taken from the

job. The plaster was cast in molds, and subsequently treated according to paragraph F2f(l) of Federal Specification SS-P-401. The

ratio of plaster to sand in the set plaster was

determined by the ammonium-acetate method

given in the 1938 revision of Methods of Testing

Gypsum and Gypsum Products, American

Society for Testing Materials Designation

C 26-33.

The finish coat of plaster was one part of

Figukk 1.Floor specimen AY

.

A, joist; B, end member; C, sound insulation; D,

sleeper; E, angle; F, finish floor; G, ceiling.

gaging plaster to three parts of hydrated finish- ing lime, by volume.

(b) Description

The floor specimens were 12 ft 6 in. long, 4 ft 0 in. wide, and 8}b in. thick. Each specimen

consisted of four sheet-steel channel-shaped

joists, A, as shown in figure 1. The joists were

covered with one coat of paint applied by spraying before assembly. The wide upper flanges

overlapped adjacent flanges and were fastened

by welds to form a continuous sheet-steel deck.

The upper flange of one outside joist extended

to half the spacing of the webs and a portion of an upper flange was welded to the other outside

joist so that the webs were symmetrical about a

longitudinal center line. The lower flanges were fastened to steel end members, B, by

welds. The deck was covered with sound

insulation, C, consisting of a layer of asphalt

roofing fastened by asphalt. Wood sleepers,

D, were fastened to the deck by angles, E, and

a wood finish floor, F, was laid on the sleepers.

A ceiling, G, of metal lath and plaster was

fastened to the joists.

The price of this construction in Washington,

D. C, as of July 1937 was $0.65/ft 2

. Joists. —The joists, A, were channels, 13%6

by 5 by 2% in., 12 ft 6 in. long, formed from

sheet-steel, No. 14 United States Standard

Gage (0.0766 in. thick). The upper flange of

each joist had a recessed shelf, 1% in. wide,

AY

3]
6- AY

on which the flange of the adjacent joist rested.

The joists were fastened by welds, % in. long,

spaced 6 in. on centers. The details of the

joists and the method of assembly are shown in figure 2. End members.—Tbe end members, B, were

bars, 1 by 1 in., 4 ft 0 in. long, fastened to the

lower flange of each joist by fillet welds, one at each side of each flange. These bars repre- sented the regular end members used when the

joists rest on masonry walls. The regular end

members are steel plates, 4 in. wide and % in. thick.

Sound insulation.—The sound insulation, C, was one layer of asphalt roofing fastened to the

deck with asphalt.

Sleepers.—Thirteen wood sleepers, D, lji by

2 in., 4 ft 0 in. long, spaced 1 ft 0 in. on centers, were fastened to the deck by angles, E. Each

sleeper had four angles on each side, spaced 1 ft

V/i in. on centers. Angles.—The angles, E, were 1%6 by 1%

in., in. long, formed from sheet steel, No. 14

United States Standard Gage (0.0766 in. thick).

The horizontal leg of each angle had two holes,

%2-in. diam, spaced 2}£ in. on centers, and the

vertical leg had two holes, %2-m. diam, spaced

2}i in. on centers. Each angle was placed over

the sound insulation and fastened to the deck

by two screws and to the sleeper by two roofing

nails. A paper-felt washer under the head of

each roofing nail prevented breaking off the

head when the nail was driven.

Finish floor.—The finish floor, F, was oak

flooring, 2 %2 by 2% in. (nominal 1S/16 by 2}{ in.).

Each strip of flooring was fastened by blind

nailing to each sleeper with one finishing nail. Ceiling.—The ceiling, G, had six sheets of lath, 2 ft 11 in. by 2 ft 3 in., placed with the

ribs across the lower flanges of the joists and

stretched to overlap 3% in. The four ribs of each sheet were fastened to the lower flange of each joist by lath clips twisted to tighten the

ribs against the flanges. The lath was covered

with plaster, % in. thick, consisting of a scratch

coat, a brown coat, and a finish coat. The

ceiling did not extend the full width of the

specimen but was only 2 ft 11 in. wide. It is believed that this did not appreciably affect the structural properties of the specimens.

(c) Comments

Approximately 25 buildings using tliis construction were completed or under construction on October 1, 1938. One of these buildings was a house built on a masonry foundation with

sheet-steel walls, floors, and roof. The sheet-steel joists used for this floor construction are made in depths of 5, 6, and 8 in. from 12- and 14-gage sheet steel and are used

for spans not exceeding 22 ft. The joists when used for the first floor of a

[4]
building are supported by the foundation walls,

resting on a sheet-steel plate fastened to the

masonry by anchor bolts. The lower flanges

of the joists are first fastened to the bearing

plate by welds and then the upper flanges are fastened to the flanges of adjacent joists by

welds. If the distance from wall to wall is excessive, the joists are supported by intermediate beams, the lower flanges resting on and

being fastened to the beams by welds. The

second floor is supported by shelf angles fas- tened to the wall. The finish floor may be wood flooring laid on

sleepers, tile block laid in a composition filler directly on the steel deck, concrete, or terrazzo.

2. Transverse Load

Floor specimen AY-T1 under transverse load is shown in figure 3. The results for floor specimens AY-T1, T2, and T3 are shown in

table 4 and in figure 4. Each of the specimens failed by buckling of

the joists at one or both loading rollers. In

addition, the plaster ceiling of each specimen

cracked in three places across the specimen.

The first cracks appeared under one loading roll- er or at midspan and occurred at loads of 90, 140,

and 140 lb/ft 2 and deflections of 0.21, 0.36, and

0.36 for specimens Tl, T2, and T3, respectively.

The other cracks occurred under or between the

loading rollers for specimens Tl and T2 and

near each supporting roller for specimen T3.

For each of specimens Tl and T3 one weld

holding the flange of a joist to the end member

ruptured at a load of 320 lb/ft2 for specimen

Figure 3.Floor specimen AY-T1 under transverse

loud.

0 OA 0.8 1.2

deflection 'in. Figure 4. —Transverse load on floor AY.

Load-deflection (open circles) and load-set (closed circles) results for specimens AY-T1, T2, and TS on the span 12 ft 0 in.

Table 4.

Structural -properties of floor AY

[Weight," 16.1 lb/ft 2

]

Load Load applied

Spec- imen

desig- nation

Maxi- mum

height of drop

Maxi- mum

load

Transverse /Upper face; span, 12 ft \ Oin.

Average...

( Tl

\ T2

[ TS

ft Ib/fV339

334 340

Impact

338

/Upper face; span, 12 ft \ Oin.

Average .

\ w

[ IS

b 10. 0

b 10. 0

blO. 0

Concentrated

b 10. 0

Upper face

I PI

\ P2

[ PS

lb

b 1,000

b 1, 000

b 1,000

Average... . b

1, 000

=> The weight would have been about 10 to 15 percent greater if the specimens had full-width ceilings,

b Specimen did not fail.

Tl and 340 lb/ft2 (maximum load) for specimen T3.

3. Impact Load

Floor specimen AY-I1 during the impact

test is shown in figure 5. The results for floor

[5]
Figure 5.

Floor specimen AY—II under impact load.

specimens AY-I1, 12, and 13 are shown in

table 4 and figure 6. The impact loads were applied to the middle

of the upper face of each specimen so that the

sandbag struck the finish floor directly over the

center sleeper and midway between the webs

of the center joists. For each specimen the

plaster ceiling cracked across the specimen at one place near midspan. The cracks occurred

0 0.2 0.4 0.6

deflection in. Figure 6.

Impact load on floo^ AY.

Height of drop-deflection (open circles) and height of drop-set (closed

circles) results for specimens AY-I1, IS, and IS on the span 12 ft 0 in.

at drops of 4, 6.5, and 10 ft and deflections of

0.41, 0.51, and 0.64 in. for specimens II, 12, and

13, respectively. The sets after a drop of 10 ft were 0.029, 0.041, and 0.042 in. for speci- mens II, 12, and 13, respectively, and no other

effect was observed.

4. Concentrated Load

Floor specimen AY-P2 under concentrated

load is shown in figure 7. The results for floor specimens AY-PI, P2, and P3 are shown in table 4 and in figure 8.

Figure 7.Floor specimen AY-P2 under concentrated

load.

[6]
The concentrated loads were applied to the

finish (loor of each specimen on a strip of the

flooring near an end-matched joint which was

not directly over a sleeper. The indentations

after a load of 1,000 lb had been applied were

0.039, 0.019, and 0.018 in. for specimens PI,

P2, and P3, respectively, and no other effect was observed.

1000

800

-5 600

g 400

§ 200

o

—m

• /

1—

a

•

»

»

,/ —

«

/

• — •

i — /

»

•

/ —

•

»

/

IT•

/ ay 0 0.02 0.04 0.06

indentation in. Figure 8.

Concentrated load on floor A Y.

Load-indentation results for specimens AY-PI, P2, and PS.

The sponsor supplied the information contained in the sponsor's statement. The description and drawings of the specimens weir

prepared by E. J. Schell and (i. W. Shaw of

the Bureau's Building Practice and Specifications Section, under the supervision of V. B.

Phelan, from this information and from the

specimens themselves. That Section also co- operated in the preparation of the report.

The species and grades of the woods were

determined by R. K. Helphenstine, Jr., and

W. D. Brush of the Division of Forest Products,

Forest Service, United States Department of

Agriculture.

The structural properties were determined by

the Bureau's Engineering Mechanics Section,

under the supervision of H. L. Whittemore and

A. H. Stang, and the Lime and Gypsum Section,

under the supervision of L. S. Wells, with the

assistance of the following members of the

professional staff: W. F. Clarke, F. Cardile,

R. C. Carter, H. Dollar, M. Dubin, A. H.

Easton, A. S. Endler, C. D. Johnson, A. J. Sussman, and L. R. Sweetman.

V. SELECTED REFERENCES

A. F. Bemis, The Evolving House, 3, 583 (Technology

Press, M. I. T., 1936). Architectural Forum, 59, 435 (1933). Architectural Record, 75, 21 (1934). American Architect, 149, No. 2649, 40 (1936). Pencil Points, 19, No. 6, 56 (1938). Washington, November 18, 1938.

o

[7]
I1
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