Composite floor and composite steel stud wall construction systems

Abstract

A joist-and-deck floor construction system uses open-web steel joists (OWSJ) having continuous top-chord cap plates to facilitate continuous placement of corrugated steel deck over the OWSJs and to allow shear connectors to be field-applied to the cap plates, through the lower flutes of the deck, to achieve composite structural action between the OWSJ and a concrete floor slab poured over the deck. A composite steel stud wall construction system has a bottom track perforated to receive reinforcing dowels projecting from a concrete support element, such that infill concrete may be placed to a desired height within the stud assembly to give the lower ends of the studs a significant degree of structural fixity. The stud wall can also be constructed on top of steel floor deck, prior to placement of floor concrete.

1 . a wall assembly constructed upon a support surface, said assembly comprising: 
 (a) an elongate light-gauge metal base track comprising a continuous web member having an inner face and an outer face, a continuous first flange, and a continuous second flange, wherein: 
 a.1 said first and second flanges are parallel and extend substantially perpendicularly from the inner face of the web member; and  
 a.2 the first flange has a plurality of cutouts, each shaped to receive a structural joist;  
 said base track positioned upon and anchored to the support surface, with its first and second flanges projecting vertically upward;  
   (b) a plurality of joist-support elements, each positioned upon the inner face of the base track's web member adjacent a corresponding joist cutout; and    (c) a wall panel comprising a plurality of spaced, light-gauge metal studs, the lower ends of said studs being disposed between the base tracks's first and second flanges.    
   
   
       2 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein at least one of the cutouts in the base track's first flange is configured to receive an open-web steel joist.  
   
   
       3 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein the upper edge of the base track's second flange coincides with a selected floor elevation.  
   
   
       4 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein the base track's second flange has a plurality of cutouts, each shaped to receive a structural joist.  
   
   
       5 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein at least one of the studs has a perforation for receiving a concrete reinforcement rod, said perforation being positioned below the upper edge of the base track's second flange.  
   
   
       6 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein the support surface is the top track of a lower wall.  
   
   
       7 . The wall assembly of  Claim 1  wherein the support surface is the top flange of a structural steel beam.  
   
   
       8 . The wall assembly of  Claim 7  further comprising a plurality of shear connectors anchored to the top flange of the steel beam, said shear connectors being spaced apart and positioned between the studs of the wall panel.  
   
   
       9 . A wall-and-floor subassembly comprising: 
 (a) a wall constructed upon a support surface and comprising: 
 a.1 an elongate light-gauge metal base track comprising a continuous web member having an inner face and an outer face, a continuous first flange, and a continuous second flange, wherein said first and second flanges are parallel and extend substantially perpendicularly from the inner face of the web member, and wherein the first flange has a plurality of cutouts, each shaped to receive a structural joist, said base track being positioned upon and anchored to the support surface, with its first and second flanges projecting vertically upward;  
 a.2 a plurality of joist-support elements, each positioned upon the inner face of the base tracks's web member adjacent a corresponding joist cutout; and  
 a.3 a wall panel comprising a plurality of spaced, light-gauge metal studs, the lower ends of said studs being disposed between the base track's first and second flanges;  
   (b) a plurality of primary floor joists each having: 
 b.1 a first end disposed within one of the joist cutouts in the base track's first flange, and supported on a corresponding joist-support element; and  
 b.2 a second end supported on a first auxiliary support structure, such that the top surfaces of the primary joists lie in a common horizontal plane;  
   (c) metal decking overlying and fastened to the primary joists; and    (d) concrete topping placed over the metal decking and extending into the space between the first and second flanges of the base track, with the upper surface of the concrete topping being at a selected floor elevation.    
   
   
       10 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 9  wherein the upper edge of the base track's second flange coincides with a selected floor elevation.  
   
   
       11 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 9  wherein: 
 (a) the base track's second flange has a plurality of joist cutouts;    (b) the subassembly further comprises a plurality of supplementary floor joists, each having a first end disposed within one of the joist cutouts in said second flange, and supported on a corresponding joist-support element, and having a second end supported on a second auxiliary support structure, such that the top surfaces of the supplementary joists lie in the same plane as the primary joists; and    (c) the metal decking overlies and is fastened to both the primary and supplementary joists.    
   
   
       12 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 8  wherein at least one of the studs has a perforation for receiving a concrete reinforcement rod, said perforation being positioned below the upper edge of the base track's second flange.  
   
   
       13 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 9  wherein the support surface is the top track of a lower wall.  
   
   
       14 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 9  wherein the support surface is the top flange of a structural steel beam.  
   
   
       15 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 14 , further comprising a plurality of shear connectors anchored to the top flange of the steel beam, said shear connectors being spaced apart and positioned between the studs of the wall panel.  
   
   
       16 . A wall-and-floor subassembly constructed upon a support surface, said assembly comprising: 
 (a) an elongate light-gauge metal base track comprising a continuous web member having an inner face and an outer face, a continuous first flange, and a continuous second flange, wherein: 
 a.1 said first and second flanges are parallel and extend substantially perpendicularly from the inner face of the web member; and  
 a.2 the horizontally disposed web member has a plurality of perforations spaced to align with the flute spacing of the fluted structural deck upon which the said base track is placed;  
 said base track being positioned upon and anchored to the support surface, with its first and second flanges projecting vertically upward;  
   (b) a wall panel comprising a plurality of spaced, light-gauge metal studs, the lower ends of said studs being disposed between the base track's first and second flanges;    (c) a plurality of elongate fluted structural decking units spanning between said decking support means and an auxiliary support means, with the upper surfaces of the decking units being at a common elevation, and    (d) concrete topping placed over the metal decking and extending into the space between the first and second flanges of the base track, with the upper surface of the concrete topping being at a selected floor elevation.    
   
   
       17 . The wall assembly of  Claim 16  wherein the support surface for the said wall panel is the surface of the high flutes of a light-gauge steel deck, having the low flutes of the said steel deck aligned with the perforations in the web of the base track.  
   
   
       18 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 16  wherein the support surface is the top track of a lower wall.  
   
   
       19 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 16  wherein  16  at least one of the studs has a perforation for receiving a concrete reinforcement rod, said perforation being positioned below the upper edge of the base track's second flange.  
   
   
       20 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 16  wherein the support surface is the top flange of a structural steel beam.  
   
   
       21 . The wall-and-floor subassembly of  Claim 20 , further comprising a plurality of shear connectors anchored to the top flange of the steel beam, said shear connectors being spaced apart and positioned between the studs of the wall panel.  
   
   
       22 . A wall assembly constructed upon a support surface, said assembly comprising: 
 (a) an elongate light-gauge metal base track comprising a continuous web member having an inner face and an outer face, a continuous first flange, and a continuous second flange, wherein: 
 a.1 said first and second flanges are parallel and extend substantially perpendicularly from the inner face of the web member; and  
 a.2 the horizontally disposed web member has a plurality of perforations; said base track being positioned upon and anchored to the support surface, with its first and second flanges projecting vertically upward; and  
   (b) a wall panel comprising a plurality of spaced, light-gauge metal studs, the lower ends of said studs being disposed between the base track's first and second flanges;    wherein the lower end of the wall panel is sheathed with sheathing of sufficient rigidity to provide formwork for concrete infill inside the said wall panel.    
   
   
       23 . The wall assembly of  Claim 22  wherein the support surface is the top surface of the foundation structure.  
   
   
       24 . The wall assembly of  Claim 23 , further comprising reinforcing dowel bars protruding from the foundation structure through the perforations of the base track.  
   
   
       25 . The wall assembly of  Claim 24 , further comprising concrete infill inside of the wall assembly to a selected height.  
   
   
       26 . The wall assembly of  Claim 25 , further comprising a top track of sufficient rigidity to distribute loading from a structural joist to the adjacent studs.