• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.351-362
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• 2017

This paper presents an experimental study on the behavior of composite floor slab comprised by a new steel sheet and concrete slab. The strength of composite slabs depends mainly on the strength of the connection between the steel sheet and concrete, which is denoted by longitudinal shear strength. The composite slabs have three main failures modes, failure by bending, vertical shear failure and longitudinal shear failure. These modes are based on the load versus deflection curves that are obtained in bending tests. The longitudinal shear failure is brittle due to the mechanical connection was not capable of transferring the shear force until the failure by bending occurs. The vertical shear failure is observed in slabs with short span, large heights and high concentrated loads subjected near the supports. In order to analyze the behavior of the composite slab with a new steel sheet, six bending tests were undertaken aiming to provide information on their longitudinal shear strength, and to assess the failure mechanisms of the proposed connections. Two groups of slabs were tested, one with 3000 mm in length and other with 1500 mm in length. The tested composite slabs showed satisfactory composite behavior and longitudinal shear resistance, as good as well, the analysis confirmed that the developed sheet is suitable for use in composite structures without damage to the global behavior.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.303-314
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• 2018

Drying shrinkage in concrete caused by drying and the associated decrease in moisture content is one of the most important factors influencing the long-term deflection of steel-concrete composite slabs. The presence of profiled steel decking at the bottom of the composite slab causes non-uniform drying from top and bottom of the slab resulting non-uniform drying shrinkage. In this paper, a hydro-mechanical analysis method is proposed to simulate the development of non-uniform shrinkage through the depth of the composite slab. It also demonstrates how this proposed analysis method can be used in conjunction with previously presented structural analysis model to calculate the effects of non-uniform shrinkage on the long-term deflection of the slab. The method uses concrete moisture diffusion model to simulate the non-uniform drying of composite slab. Then mechanical models are used to calculate resulting shrinkage strain from non-uniform drying and its effect on the long-term behaviour of the composite slabs. The performance of the proposed analysis method is validated against experimental data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.381-392
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• 2023

This study experimentally investigates the flexural behavior of steel-UHPC composite slabs composed of an innovative negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) steel plate and Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) slab connected via demountable high-strength bolt shear connectors. Eight demountable composite slab specimens were fabricated and tested under traditional four-point bending method. The effects of loading histories (positive and negative bending moment), types of steel plate (NPR steel plate and Q355 steel plate) and spacings of high-strength bolts (150 mm, 200 mm and 250 mm) on the flexural behavior of demountable composite slab, including failure mode, load-deflection curve, interface relative slip, crack width and sectional strain distribution, were evaluated. The results revealed that under positive bending moment, the failure mode of composite slabs employing NPR steel plate was distinct from that with Q355 steel plate, which exhibited that part of high-strength bolts was cut off, part of pre-embedded padded extension nuts was pulled out, and UHPC collapsed due to instantaneous instability and etc. Besides, under the same spacing of high-strength bolts, NPR steel plate availably delayed and restrained the relative slip between steel plate and UHPC plate, thus significantly enhanced the cooperative deformation capacity, flexural stiffness and load capacity for composite slabs further. While under negative bending moment, NPR steel plate effectively improved the flexural capacity and deformation characteristics of composite slabs, but it has no obvious effect on the initial flexural stiffness of composite slabs. Meanwhile, the excellent crack-width control ability for UHPC endowed composite members with better durability. Furthermore, according to the sectional strain distribution analysis, due to the negative Poisson's ratio effect and high yield strength of NPR steel plate, the tensile strain between NPR steel plate and UHPC layer held strain compatibility during the whole loading process, and the magnitude of upward movement for sectional plastic neutral axis could be ignored with the increase of positive bending moment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.5
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• pp.657-670
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• 2020

Due to the high compressive and tensile strength of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), UHPC used in steel concrete composite structures provided thinner concrete layer compared to ordinary concrete. This leaded to the headed stud shear connectors embedded in UHPC had a low aspect ratio. In order to systematic investigate the effect of headed stud with low aspect ratio on the structural behaviors of steel UHPC composite structure s this paper firstly carried out a test program consisted of twelve push out specimens. The effects of stud height, aspect ratio and reinforcement bars in UHPC on the structural behaviors of headed studs were investigated. The push out test results shows that the increasing of stud height did not obviously influence the structural behaviors of headed studs and the aspect ratio of 2.16 was proved enough to take full advantage of the headed stud strength. Based on the test results, the equation considering the contribution of weld collar was modified to predict the shear strength of headed stud embedded in UHPC. The modified equation could accurately predict the shear strength of headed stud by comparing with the experimental results. On the basis of push out test results, bending tests consisted of three steel UHPC composite slabs were conducted to investigate the effect of shear connection degree on the structural behaviors of composite slabs. The bending test results revealed that the shear connection degree had a significantly influence on the failure modes and ultimate resistance of composite slabs and composite slab with connection degree of 96% in s hear span exhibited a ductile failure accompanied by the tensile yield of steel plate and crushing of UHPC. Finally, analytical model based on the failure mode of composite slabs was proposed to predict the ultimate resistance of steel UHPC composite slabs with different shear connection degrees at the interface.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.153-171
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• 2015

Twelve large-scale composite deck slabs were instrumented and tested in a cantilever diaphragm configuration to assess the effect of fibers and welded wire mesh (WWM) on the in-plane shear capacity of composite deck slabs. The slabs were constructed with reentrant decking profile and reinforced with different types and dosages of secondary reinforcements: Conventional welded wire mesh (A142 and A98); synthetic macro-fibers (dosages of $3kg/m^3$ and $5.3kg/m^3$); and hooked-end steel fibers with a dosage of $15kg/m^3$. The deck orientation relative to the main beam (strong and weak) was also considered in this study. Fibers and WWM were found efficient in distributing the applied load to the whole matrix, inducing multiple cracking, thereby enhancing the strength and ductility of composite deck slabs. The test results indicate that fibers increased the slab's ultimate in-plane shear capacity by up to 29% and 50% in the strong and weak directions, respectively. WWM increased the ultimate in-plane shear capacity by up to 19% in the strong direction and 9% in the weak direction. The results suggest that discrete fibers can provide comparable diaphragm behavior as that with the conventional WWM.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.671-680
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• 2000

This paper provides the results of the study on the structural behavior of the composite metal deck slab system. The experimental study on composite slabs with trapezoidal and inverse-triangle-top-flange deckplate result, it was found that the geometry of the cross-section was more important than any other factors to ensure the composite action of deck slabs. Hence the inverse-triangle-top-flange of closed box was more effective on the shear slip and deflection than the trapezoidal deck of open shape. These results show that the continuing development of composite deck plate must consider importantly the geometry of the deck. The experimental results were compared with established formulas and were analysed to advance a theory on composite slabs using deckplates.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.689-704
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• 2017

The paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of prefabricated composite structural building reinforced concrete slabs with the insulating material for a residential building construction. The building slabs were composed of concrete and expanded polystyrene. In experiments, the slabs in the full-scale 1:1 were subjected to vertical concentrated loads and failed along a diagonal shear crack. The experiments were numerically evaluated using the finite element method based on two different constitutive continuum models for concrete. First, an elasto-plastic model with the Drucker-Prager criterion defined in compression and with the Rankine criterion defined in tension was used. Second, a coupled elasto-plastic-damage formulation based on the strain equivalence hypothesis was used. In order to describe strain localization in concrete, both models were enhanced in the softening regime by a characteristic length of micro-structure by means of a non-local theory. Attention was paid to the formation of critical diagonal shear crack which was a failure precursor.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.425-438
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• 2013

A new-styrofoam-concrete composite sandwich slab with function of heat insulation is designed. Four full-scale simply supported composite sandwich slabs with different shear connectors are tested. Parameters under study are the thickness of the concrete, the height of profiled steel sheeting, the influence of shear connectors including the steel bars and self-drilling screws. Experimental results showing that four specimens mainly failed in bending failure mode; the shear connectors can limit the longitudinal slippery between the steel profiled sheeting and the concrete effectively and thus guarantee the good composite action and cooperative behavior of two materials. The ultimate sagging bending resistance can be determined based on plastic theory. This new composite sandwich slab has high sagging bending resistance and good ductility. Additionally, these test results help the design and application of this new type of composite sandwich slab.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.6
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• pp.793-815
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• 2023

The current study looks at the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement RC channel slabs reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, and fiber glass mesh individually. Ten RC channel slabs with dimensions of 500 mm×40 mm×2500 mm were subjected to flexural loadings as part of the testing program. The type of reinforcing materials, the number of mesh layers, and the reinforcement volume fraction are the key parameters that can be changed. The main goal is to determine the impact of using new inventive materials to reinforce composite RC channel slabs. Using ANSYS -16.0 Software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was used to simulate the behavior of composite channel slabs. Parametric study is also demonstrated to identify variables that can have a significant impact on the model's mechanical behavior, such as changes in slab dimensions. The obtained experimental and numerical results indicated that FE simulations had acceptable accuracy in estimating experimental values. Also, it's significant to demonstrate that specimens reinforced with fiber glass meshes gained approximately 12% less strength than specimens reinforced with expanded or welded steel meshes. In addition, Welded steel meshes provide 24% increase in strength over expanded steel meshes when reinforcing RC channel slabs. In general, ferrocement specimens tested under flexural loadings outperform conventional reinforced concrete specimens in terms of ultimate loads and energy absorbing capacity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.2 no.5
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• pp.355-378
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• 2002

Use of composite steel construction with precast hollow core slabs is now popular in the UK, but the present knowledge in shear capacity of the headed shear studs for this type of composite construction is very limited. Currently, all the information is based on the results obtained from experimental push-off tests. A finite element model to simulate the behaviour of headed stud shear connection in composite beam with precast hollow core slabs is described. The model is based on finite element method and takes into account the linear and non-linear behaviour of all the materials. The model has been validated against the test results, for which the accuracy of the model used is demonstrated. Parametric studies showing the effect of the change in transverse gap size, transverse reinforcement diameter and in-situ concrete strength on the shear connection capacity are presented.