1

Case Study of Combination Ways of Steel and Timber in Japanese Buildings

Masahiko
Hiroshi Isoda * Tachibana** Naohito Kawai*** Mikio Koshihara****

*
Shinshu University, hisoda@shinshu-u.ac.jp ** Tokyo Denki University, tatibana@cck.dendai.ac.jp
*** Building Research Institute, kawai@kenken.go.jp ****The University of Tokyo, kos@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract
Some mixed members and structure consisting of steel and timber have been developed recently. As one of the
background, revision of the Building Standards Law in 2000 allowed the construction of timber-based buildings four
stories or taller with fire-resistance performance. Some examples of combination ways of steel and timber member are
presented in the paper. They are not only members but also connections and structures. These hybrid structures may
lead to new utilization of steel material.

Keywords: Conceptual design, cable stayed bridge

1. Introduction
Steel is key materials and members in new timber
buildings as well as in retrofitted old buildings. In new
buildings, connections such as nails, bolts, plates and so
on are made of steel and steel member such as plate and
bar also used. The purpose of utilization of steel is
mainly reinforcement of stiffness and strength of timber
members. Photo 1 is a mid-rise timber wood frame
apartment in the US with steel construction of the base.
The weight of steel connections including tie-down
system which is used for resisting uplift of the building is
about 10% in woodfame story. Recently, steel begins to
be used for fire resistance in timber-based members. This Photo 1 Woodframe apartment with steel
method and member will be discussed in the next chapter. construction base
In retrofit measurement of timber old buildings, various
kinds of steel members and structures are used to
enhance the performance against vertical force and
horizontal force. Figure 1 is an example of reinforcement
against vertical load in famous hall of the Great Buddha
in Todai-ji Temple (height: 46.8m, area:2878m2). As
mentioned above Steel plays an irreplaceable role in
timber buildings.
This paper describes a state of the art of hybrid building
system of steel and timber. It consists of three parts. First,
the national project of hybrid timber structure is
introduced. Second, five story steel and wood composite
structure is shown. Third, recent steel and timber Figure 1 Retrofit measurement of the hall of the
composite structure mainly in Japan is introduced. Great Buddha (Red line shows steel truss)
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2. The research and development project of timber-
based hybrid structure
2.1 background and objectives
The effective utilization of timber is urged from the point
of preservation of natural resources and global
environment in Japan. And the effective mixture of
timber and other materials is expected to extend the
possibility of building structures because of the
possibility to realize high performance in both structural
safety and fire safety. The Building Standard Law of
Japan was revised in June 1998 and the potential to
accept large-scale and high-rise timber buildings was
added with provisions of performance-based code. The
objectives of this research and development project are,
to develop high-performance timber-based composite
members and hybrid structural systems (see Figure 2), to
develop the evaluation methods for structural and fire
safety performance of these buildings, and to develop the
design methods for buildings with typical timber-based
hybrid structure systems.
This project started in 1999 as a five-year national
project (Sakamoto et. al, 2004). There are some
preceding researches or designs in this area, such as
timber beams reinforced by steel or fibers, floor systems
with timber and reinforced concrete, structural systems
with reinforced concrete or steel core structure
surrounded by timber frames, and so on. These preceding
researches are, of course, very useful for the starting of
the projects. However, one of the most important issues
for the structural performance of hybrid timber structure
in Japan is the dynamic behavior of the structures against
strong grand motions. There are some research needs
adding these preceding researches from the point of
seismic performance of such kind of buildings.
2.2 Fireproof Members with steel
According to the current Building Standard Law (BSL)
of Japan, fireproof performance of more than 1 hour is
required for the members such as columns, beams, floors
and walls, for buildings with four stories or more. Table
1 shows briefly the requirement of fireproof performance
for members in accordance with the stories of the
building.
Based on the requirement of BSL, fireproof performance
tests on members were executed. According to the testing
method under BSL to confirm the 1 hour fire proof
performance of members with combustible materials, for
example, members are exposed to the fire for 1 hour and
left in the furnace for 3 hours and confirmed that they
can bear the load even after the test, it means, they can
bear the load during the test and there is no fear to lose
the ability by re-ignition, progress of char, or a rise of
temperature after the test.
As the results of these tests, floors and walls with
covering of gypsum boards or other non-combustible
materials with some construction methods, revealed 1
hour or sometimes 2 hour fireproof performance. And for
columns and beams, following two types are found to be
solutions of fireproof members with using wood. One is

Figure 2 Examples of timber-based composite members and hybrid structure systems

Table 1 Requirement of property to withstand the heat under BSL

Stories of buildings
Uppermost story, and Fifth to fourteenth stories Fifteenth story or
Parts of buildings second to fourth stories from the uppermost story more from the
from the uppermost story uppermost story
Partition walls 1 hour 2 hours 2 hours
Bearing Walls
External walls 1 hour 2 hours 2 hours
Columns 1 hour 2 hours 3 hours
Floors 1 hour 2 hours 2 hours
Beams 1 hour 2 hours 3 hours
Roofs 30 minutes 30 minutes 30 minutes
Stairs 30 minutes 30 minutes 30 minutes
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the type of members with covering of gypsum boards or
other non-combustible materials, and another is the type
of wooden members with shape steel inserted. The latter
type members have, if made with some special
construction specifications, the self-extinguish property.
They are burnt when exposed to the fire but the progress
of char stops while left in the furnace after the exposure
to the fire. Figure 3 shows examples of members whose
1 hour fireproof performance was confirmed using steel
member.
summarized in Table 3. Other than these studies, the
evaluation method for the bond durability of joints in
members and joints between members with using
adhesives was discussed based on the results of series of
bond durability tests.
420mm

420mm
2.3 Structural Elements
Project team classified types of timber-based hybrid
structural members, and studied design equations of
stiffness and strength of typical flexural members. Also,
they conducted experiments in order to verify the Glulam H300-300-10/15
appropriateness of the equations, and conducted some
experiments. Table 2 shows the classification of flexural
Figure 3 Examples of members whose fireproof
members according to their structural performance.
performance was confirmed
Structural elements studied in this project were

Table 2 Classification of timber-based hybrid members

Position of
Class Reinforcement, etc Example of member section
Neutral axes of timber and
1 reinforcement are not at the
same position
Neutral axes of timber and
2 reinforcement are at the same
position
More than one piece of
3 reinforcement, positioned
symmetrically.
More than one piece of
4 reinforcement, positioned
asymmetrically
5 Pre-stressed (Many variations)
6 Assembled member (Many variations)
7 Others (Many variations)

Table 3 Planning of experiments for hybrid timber structural members

Type of member Section of Section of Fastener or adhesive Span length of 3-
glulam (mm) reinforcement (mm) (mm) point bending (mm)
100×200 6×65 2-LS*(d=9, l=75) 4,000 and 2,000
Glulam bean with
@70
steel plate at top and
LS (d=9, l=75) @70 4,000
bottom
LS (d=9, l=75) @140 4,000 and 2,000
100×200 6×65 2-LS (d=9, l=75) 4,000
Glulam beam with @70
steel plate at tension
side LS (d=9, l=75) @70
LS (d=9, l=75) @140
Glulam beam with 100×200 1.4×100 Resorcinol 4,000 and 2,000
carbon fiber sheet at 2.8×100 4,000
top and bottom 4.2×100 4,000 and 2,000
Glulam beam with 100×200 1.4×100 Resorcinol 4,000
carbon fiber at 2.8×100
tension side 4.2×100
*LS: Lug Screw
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2.4 Joints Between Members 2.5 Dual Systems

The Project team studied types of joints between
members effective for timber-based hybrid Structures.
For the purpose of helping to narrow down research
areas, we classified joint types based on existing samples,
and commenced further studies, based on loading tests,
of structural behavior of joints between different
materials and of effectiveness of reinforcement for
hybrid timber joints using different materials. Table 4
shows the classification of joints between hybrid
members.
The Project team also classified structural issues related
to dual systems, in which timber structure and other
structures are horizontally integrated, and proceeded with
trial design for three types of dual systems. Photo2
shows examples of the trial design based on the
classification and consideration of reality. Table 5 shows
the structural issues of hybrid structural systems, and
Table 6 shows adaptability of dual systems in terms of
building use.

Table 4 Joints between hybrid timber structural members

Example of Example of stress transfer mechanism at joint

Type of member Shape
Flexure and Tension Shear Compression
of Joints

Flange
reinforcement Horizontal splice plate Shear block Surface contact
type
Flexural
Glued in Rod, Bottom support,
reinforcement Surface contact
Horizontal splice plate Dowel
type

External cable Bottom support,

(No stress transfer) Surface contact
reinforcement type Dowel

Web reinforcement
Dowel, vertical splice steel plate Surface contact
type

Overall Various types

improvement Various types, e. g. Dowel e. g. Surface
type contact

Splitting prevention
Dowel, Bolt Surface contact
type

Various types
Partial improvement
Various types, e. g. Dowel e. g. Surface
type
contact

(a) School building with RC core for corridor structure (b) Office building with external steel framing

Photo 2 Examples of model for trial structural design of hybrid system

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Table 5 Classification of hybrid structural systems and structural issues

Restriction of scale (related to in-plane

Verification against wind pressure (Ext.

Incapability of self-standing, except

Jointing method between timber and RC

Difference of timber and RC behavior in

Integrity of different structural systems

Out-of-plane deformation of RC wall

In-plane stiffness of floor structure

Load transfer from timber to RC

stiffness of floor structure)

Lateral force distribution

terms of deformation

Degree of demand

timber framing)
Torsion

Structural Systems
1. Ext. RC wall girder framing + Int. timber ●
2. RC core wall + timber framing
3. Ext. RC (or steel) framing + Int. timber
4. RC independent wall + timber framing
5. Ext. RC double-wall + Int. timber framing
6. RC framing at 2 sides + Int. timber
7. Super framing + Int. timber framing
3-1. Ext. timber shear wall + partial steel
f i
●: To be considered ○: To be considered on a case-by-case basis
1. Ext. RC wall girder 2. RC core wall
timber
● ○ ● ● ● ●
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
● ○ ● ● ● ○
● ● ○ ● ● ● ● ○
● ●
● ● ● ● ● ○
●
● ● ○ ○ ● ● ● ● ●
4. RC independent wall
3. Ext. RC (steel) framing + timber framing

6. RC framing at 2 sides 3-1. Ext. timber shear wall

5. Ext. RC double-wall + Int. timber framing 7. Super framing + partial steel framing

Table 6 Types of hybrid structural system and adaptability in terms of building use
Type of structural system Office Shops School Apartment Others
2. RC center core wall type ◎ △ – △ Library, museum, theater, etc
3. External steel framing type ○ ◎ – – Showroom, etc
4. RC independent wall type ○ △ ◎ ○ Nursing facilities, Library, etc
7. Super framing type ○ △ △ ◎ –
 6

3. Five story composite buildings construction, and structural elements are required 1 hour
This chapter describes the structural framing and fire fire resistive period.
resistance system for this building and details. M-Bldg.
was built in Kanazawa city, Ishikawa prefecture. In this
building, first-story was built in reinforced concrete
construction and from 2-5 stories was built in timber-
based hybrid construction. In structural framing, the
performance-based design method (“Calculation of
Response and Limit Strength”) was applied and some
static structural experiments were conducted about the
seismic performance of shearing wall and the buckling
stress of timber-based hybrid column. In fire resistance
system, fireproof construction was needed for this
building. Three fireproof elements, column, girder and
bracing, were tested for 1 hour fire resistive period. All
elements could have enough properties for 1 hour fire
resistance. The possibilities of mid-rise and high-rise
timber buildings are extended by completion of this Photo3 M-Bldg.
building.
Table 7 Outline of building data
3.1 Outline of the Building
The five-story Kanazawa M Bldg. (height: 14.237 m, Architect -architect office- Strayt Sheep
area: 6.195m x 12.100 m) was constructed in Kanazawa Structural Kirino Structural Engineering Office
City, Ishikawa Prefecture.(Photo.3) The first story has a Design
Reinforced Concrete structure and the second to fifth Area 374m2(total floor)
stories have a timber-based hybrid structure with built-in 74.96m2(building)
steel materials. Building data are listed in Table 7, and Use School
the floor plan and elevation are shown in Figure 4 and Height 14.237m
Figure 5. The building mainly uses the structural Structure R/C construction(first story) Timber-based
members listed below to satisfy the requirements for hybrid construction(2-5storied)
vertical load performance, seismic performance, and fire
resistance. This building is required fire resistive

Figure 4 Floor plan Figure 5 Elevation

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Column Beam Brace

Figure.6 Cross sections of column, beam, and brace

Table 8 Flexural rigidity ratio of timber and steel frame

E(N/mm) I(mm4) EI(Nmm2) EI / ∑ EI

Timber frame 1.05x104 5.55x108 0.583x1013 0.366
Steel frame 2.05x105 4.95x107 1.01x1013 0.634

(1) Column, beam, and brace
The building uses laminated timber with built-in steel
materials for columns, beams, and braces to satisfy the
structural and fire resistance requirements of a five-story
building. The cross section of each member is shown in
Figure. 6. The column is square laminated timber (larch
E105-F300, 200 x 200 mm) with built-in square steel
bars (SS400, 65 x 65 mm). The beam is laminated timber
(200 x 330 mm) with steel plates (SS400, PL-22x300).
The cross section of a brace looks identical to that of a
column, which is necessary for fire resistance
certification.
(2) Floor and roof
The floors and roofs are made of reinforced concrete
slabs joined together with lag screws and steel plates
built into the beams.
(3) Wall
The longitudinal walls are load-bearing and made of
nailed plywood. The lateral walls are non-load-bearing,
because of setting braces.
(4) Stairs
The stairs are made of steel frames.
3.2 Structural Planning
Similar to ordinary timber buildings, a five-story timber-
based hybrid structure requires verification of its safety
against self weight, live load, vertical load by snow
coverage, and horizontal load under a horizontal force,
such as an earthquake or wind. Fire resistive buildings
are also required to maintain building integrity in the
event of a fire. Based on these structural performance
requirements, the following structural verification was
conducted on the Kanazawa M Bldg (Koshihara, Isoda et
al 2005, Yusa, Yoshikawa, 2005).
Vertical Load
The timber and steel frame function together as a
structural member in the second to fifth stories of a
timber-based hybrid structure. To clarify the function of
the timber and the steel frame about each member, the
joint was designed as follows:
(1) Beam
Since the vertical deformation is equal between the
timber and the steel frame, vertical load should be shared
depending on their ratio of flexural rigidity, EI (E:
Young's modulus, I: Geometric moment of inertia). The
flexural rigidity ratio EI / ΣEI is shown in Table 8. The
timber and steel frame of the beam are joined at a beam
edge using drift pins to transmit the load from the timber
to the steel frame, so the steel frame bears all the shear
force at the edge. The gusset plate from the steel frame of
the column and the steel frame of the beam are joined
with high tension bolts for the column-beam connection.
The holes in the side of the timber frame are filled with
timber after high tension bolts are clamped (Figure 7).
Snow load stress on both the timber and steel frame of
the beam are designed not to exceed the short-term
allowable limit, even in the very rare case of a snow load
with a vertical depth of 1.2 m (multiplied by 1.4).
(2) Column
Vertical load is transmitted to the steel frame of a column
through a gusset plate, and vertical loading of the timber
is avoided using a 3 mm clearance, which is essential for
combining the timber with the steel frame. The timber of
the column functions as a buckling restraint for the steel
frame, and, as the structural experimentation in Chapter
4 shows, alone, the steel frame of the column buckles at
about 20% of the yield stress. However, the timber-based
hybrid column did not buckle when the steel frame
yielded to axial force compression because the timber
functioned as a buckling restraint.

Horizontal Load
The structural planning of the building is different from
each direction. A timber-based hybrid beam is suspended
laterally and supported by columns of identical material,
and the longitudinal beam is built in a reinforced
concrete slab. Damage limit seismic force produces
greater horizontal force than the load exerted by very
rare wind, as prescribed in the Building Standards Law,
so horizontal resisting elements are braces the lateral
roof face and the longitudinal plywood (load-bearing)
walls.
(1) Beam
A lateral timber-based hybrid beam bears axial force and
produces a reaction force of braces during an earthquake.
The steel frame bears axial force, the timber frame
functions as a buckling restraint, and calculations
confirmed the absence of buckling within the safety
limits of applied axial force.
(2) Column
During a lateral earthquake, a timber-based hybrid
column produces a reaction force of braces. This column
does not buckle when the steel frame yielded to axial
force compression as mentioned above. During a
longitudinal earthquake, vertical shear force is
transmitted from the plywood bearing wall to the timber
of the column through the vertical frame (Figure 8). The
timber has a bearing plate of the steel frame (PL-19) at
both ends of the timber of the column, and when the
timber collides against the bearing plates, axial force is
transmitted to the steel frame of the column. Therefore,
during an earthquake, the timber functions as a buckling
restraint.
(3) Brace
A brace bears axial force during a lateral earthquake.
Only one steel frame (PL-22x65), at the center,
contributes to the structure as the steel frames. Buckling
of the brace was not observed under significant plastic
deformation of the steel frame by compression axial
force.
(4) Plywood bearing wall
Figure 7 Joint detail (lateral)
8
A plywood bearing wall bears horizontal force during a
longitudinal earthquake, and consists of structural
plywood (thickness: 24 mm), screws (diameter: 8 mm)
and both vertical and horizontal frames of laminated
timber arranged around the plywood (Figure 8). Vertical
shear force of the plywood bearing wall is as mentioned
in Section (2), and horizontal shear force is transmitted
from the structural plywood to both the horizontal frame
and the downstairs plywood bearing wall through anchor
bolts (M16) embedded in the reinforced concrete slab.
After Fire
(1) Beam
Only the steel frame bears vertical load on the
assumption that the timber had burnt completely.
Although timber actually stops burning, the remaining
timber cannot be used as a structural member under
present law. The vertical load is assumed to be the same
as before a fire, and for safety reasons, the steel frame
stress should not exceed the long-term allowable limit.
(2) Column
The column also bears vertical load only using the steel
frame and the stress applied should not exceed the long-
term allowable limit for buckling.
(3) Brace
The timber of a brace is also assumed to have completely
burned. The wind pressure, at the maximum momentary
wind velocity of 15 m/s, is set as the constant wind load,
and both brace tension and beam bending resist the
lateral horizontal force. In this case, the steel frame stress
is prevented from exceeding the short-term allowable
limit.
(4) Plywood bearing wall
A plywood bearing wall is assumed to have completely
burned.
(5) Longitudinal RC beam
An RC slab has a built-in longitudinal RC beam, as
shown in Figure 8. The rigid frame structure, consisting
of the RC beam and the steel frame of the column, resists
the longitudinal horizontal force produced by the
constant wind.
Figure 8 Joint detail (longitude)

4. Introduction of steel and timber composite
structure in Japan
Recent cases of hybrid of steel and timber structures and
members have been studied in the committee of
collection and analysis of new hybrid buildings at JSSC
for last two years (JSSC Report 2009). In this chapter,
some typical cases are introduced.
4.1 Roof Truss (Tokorozawa Civic Gymnasium)
Roof structure of this main arena consists of steel and
timber truss as shown in Figure 9. The timber arch
loading only compression force is connected using steel
bar which is subjected to tensile force. All nodes of chord
and stud were connected using special connecter
resisting shear force and tied by special screw nuts.
4.2 Column of four glulums and steel plate (Saitama
Prefectural Budokan)
Cross shape steel plate is covered with four glued
laminated timber stud. Horizontal member is also
composed of center steel plate and cover timber. Dorift-
pin which is simple steel round bar is used to connect
steel and timber. Long span frame is made up by the
spaced truss mentioned above. Glued laminate timber is
made of small dimension lumbers which are useless as
normal structural members laminated (Figure 10).
4.3 Retrofit (Totally collapse house)
This house was totally collapsed during Kobe earthquake
and retrofitted using steel moment frame. Timber frames
still exist as a component of design (Figure 11).
5. Conclusions
The hybrid structures of steel and timber have the
Photo of truss system
Photo of connection
9
potential to produce fascinating architectures. And they
also have the potential to reinforce timber member and
joint and enhance a fire safety. But they are still unique
because of the lack of understanding and information of
their performance and design method.
6. Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank all the members of
research committees, sub-committees and working
groups under the project on timber-based hybrid building
structures. Thank you also members of committee of
collection and analysis of new hybrid buildings at JSSC.
Thank you for providing photos from Dr kamiya of
former researcher of FFPRI and Saito Mokuzai co.
7. References
Sakamoto, I., Kawai, N., Okada, H., Isoda, H and Yusa,
S. “Final report of a Research and Development
project on Timber-based Hybrid Building Structures”,
Proceedings of 8th WCTE, Aug., 2004
Yusa, S., Yoshikawa, T and et.al “ Research in practice
on 5-story fire resistance hybrid wooden structure
building”, Summaries of Technical Papers of Annual
Meeting Japan Society for Finishings Technology,
pp.7, 2005
Koshihara, M., Isoda, I. and et al.: “A Study of five
storied timber based hybrid building for practical use
(Part 1-3)”, Summary of Technical Papers of Annual
Meeting Architectural Institute of Japan, C-1, pp.201-
206, 2005
JSSC report “Case study and analysis of new hybrid
building systems”, 2009
Detail of connection
 10

Figure 9 Tokorozawa Civic Gymnasium

Section
断面図

Photo of roof system Details

Figure 10 Saitama Prefectural Budokan

First story
1階平面図

Second
2階平面図 story

断面図
Section

Figure 11 Totally collapse house