flitch beam

In that common form it is sometimes referenced as a steel flitch beam.

A flitch beam is a simple form of composite construction sometimes used in North American light frame construction.

Typically, the flitch beam is made up of a steel plate sandwiched between two wood beams, the three layers being held together with bolts.

A flitch beam can typically support heavier loads over a longer span than an all-wood beam of the same cross section.

Historically beams were squared timbers but are also metal, stone, or combinations of wood and metal such as a flitch beam.

Flitch beams can also be created from existing in-situ joists or beams permitting easier renovations.

A flitch beam (or flitched beam) is a compound beam used in the construction of houses, decks, and other primarily wood-frame structures.

That definition is problematic, however, because composite articles can be articles of manufacture-as in the case of a piece of plywood, a concrete sidewalk, a road, a fibreglass bathtub, a (kitchen) countertop, or a flitch beam.

Because flitch beams are significantly stronger than wood alone they require less depth than a wood-only beam of the same strength, are much lighter than a steel beam of the same size, and can still be nailed to the rest of a wooden structure.