Environmentally friendly high performance timber–concrete panel

• Development of timber–concrete composite panels with natural resources.
• Lightweight concrete incorporating cork granules.
• Mechanical characterization of timber–concrete connections.
• Evaluation of acoustic and dynamic behaviour of full-scale timber concrete panels.
• Transversal load distribution and mechanical behaviour of a full-scale TCC panels.

This paper reports the development and the analysis of a new high performance timber–concrete composite (TCC) panel suitable for structural applications in floors. The new TCC panel is environmentally friendly, and combines low value natural resources with very low level of processing (small diameter Maritime pine logs) with industry sub products (cork granules) leading to a relatively low construction cost. The research program involved three stages: (i) development and characterization of the raw materials (cork lightweight concrete and small diameter Maritime pine logs), (ii) development and characterization of the structural connections and (iii) characterization and validation of the structural panel itself. The research program included an extensive experimental campaign and the results showed that (i) the production of high performance TCC panels is feasible and (ii) the developed TCC panel meets the structural and non-structural requirements for floor applications.