• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.477-487
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• 2022

The shear stiffness of headed-stud shear connectors has no unified definition due to the nonlinear characteristics of its load-slip relationship. A unified framework was firstly adopted to develop a general expression of shear load-slip equation for headed-stud shear connectors varying in a large parameter range based on both force and energy balance. The pre- and post-yield shear stiffness were then determined through bilinear idealization of proposed shear load-slip equation. An updated and carefully selected push-out test database of 157 stud shear connectors, conducting on studs 13~30mm in diameter and on concretes 30~180 MPa in cubic compressive strength, was used for model regression and sensitivity analysis of shear stiffness. An empirical calculation model was also established for the stud shear stiffness. Compared with the previous models through statistical analysis, the proposed model demonstrates a better performance to predict the shear load-slip response and stiffness of the stud shear connectors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.493-506
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• 2020

The load-slip relationship of the shear connection is an important parameter in design and analysis of composite structures. In this paper, a load-slip curve prediction method of the shear connection based on the artificial neural networks (ANNs) is proposed. The factors which are significantly related to the structural and deformation performance of the connection are selected, and the shear stiffness of shear connections and the transverse coordinate slip value of the load-slip curve are taken as the input parameters of the network. Load values corresponding to the slip values are used as the output parameter. A twolayer hidden layer network with 15 nodes and 10 nodes is designed. The test data of two different forms of shear connections, the stud shear connection and the perforated shear connection with flange heads, are collected from the previous literatures, and the data of six specimens are selected as the two prediction data sets, while the data of other specimens are used to train the neural networks. Two trained networks are used to predict the load-slip curves of their corresponding prediction data sets, and the ratio method is used to study the proximity between the prediction loads and the test loads. Results show that the load-slip curves predicted by the networks agree well with the test curves.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.71-89
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• 2016

In steel and concrete composite girders, the load transfer between the steel beam and the concrete slab is commonly ensured by installing shear connectors. In this paper, to investigate the nonlinear behavior of perfobond connectors, a total of 60 push-out specimens were fabricated and tested with the variables for the hole diameter, the concrete strength, the thickness of concrete slab, the diameter, strength and existence of perforating rebar, the thickness, height and distance of perfobond ribs. The failure mode and the load-slip behavior of perfobond connectors were obtained. A theoretical model was put forward to express the load-slip relationship. Analytical formulas of shear capacity and peak slip were also proposed considering the interaction between the concrete dowel and the perforating rebar. The calculation results of the proposals agreed well with the experimental values.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.43-54
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• 1999

Shear tests are performed on four full-scale 12.5 m proto-type models, "least depth double tee," which are resulted from the optimization process. Domestic superimposed live load regulation, domestic material properties which is available to product. Korean building code requirements, construction environments and economy are considered as the main factors to establish the process. All of the specimens tested fully comply with the shear strength requirements as specified by ACI 318-95. The research has shown following results. 1) The development length requirement of ACI 318-95 does not seem a good predictor for the estimation of bond failure in a beam with the strands below the supports. 2) The load required for the first initial coner cracking in the dap end and first web shear cracking does not seem to have any relation with the dimension and shear strength of the section in the test beams. 3) The strand slip has a direct relationship with the web shear cracking. However, the coner cracking in the dap end does not give any help for the slip in anchorage. 4) Use of whole area for bearing steel at the bottom of dap end is desired for safe bearing pressure design in the precast prestressed double tee beams. 5) The deflection of beam influences directly on the amount of strand slip at the anchorage after initiation of it, and relationship between them are very linear.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.729-741
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• 2023

As the most popular shear connection in composite structures, mature concrete has been widely investigated by considering mechanical properties of stud connectors (SCs) embedded. To further enhance the fabrication efficiency of composite structures and solve the contradiction between construction progress and structural performance, it is required to analyze the shear performance of stud connections of composite structures with different concrete ages. 18 typical vertical push-out tests were carried out on stud shear connectors at concrete ages of 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days. Also, the effects of concrete age, stud spacing and stud diameter on the shear capacity, connection stiffness and failure mode of the connectors were studied. A new relationship expression of load-slip for SCs with various concrete ages was proposed. The existing design code for the SCs shear strength was evaluated according to the experimental data, and a more practical prediction equation for the shear capacity of SCs with different concrete ages was established. A great agreement was observed between the experimental and theoretical results, which can provide a reference for engineering practices.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2018

Pullout tests are usually employed to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of reinforced soil, and the load-displacement curve can be obtained easily. This paper presents an analytical solution for predicting the full-range mechanical behavior of a buried planar reinforcement subjected to pullout based on a bi-linear bond-slip model. The full-range behavior consists of three consecutive stages: elastic stage, elastic-plastic stage and debonding stage. For each stage, closed-form solutions for the load-displacement relationship, the interfacial slip distribution, the interfacial shear stress distribution and the axial stress distribution along the planar reinforcement were derived. The ultimate load and the effective bond length were also obtained. Then the analytical model was calibrated and validated against three pullout experimental tests. The predicted load-displacement curves as well as the internal displacement distribution are in closed agreement with test results. Moreover, a parametric study on the effect of anchorage length, reinforcement axial stiffness, interfacial shear stiffness and interfacial shear strength is also presented, providing insights into the pullout behaviour of planar reinforcements of MSE structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.797-818
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• 2022

Steel-precast ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) composite beams with demountable high-strength friction-grip bolt (HSFGB) shear connectors can be used for accelerated bridge construction (ABC) and achieve excellent structural performance, which is expected to be dismantled and recycled at the end of the service life. However, no investigation focuses on the demountability and reusability of such composite beams, as well as the installation difficulties during construction. To address this issue, this study conducted twelve push-out tests to investigate the effects of assembly condition, bolt grade, bolt-hole clearance, infilling grout and pretension on the crack pattern, failure mode, load-slip/uplift relationship, and the structural performance in terms of ultimate shear strength, friction resistance, shear stiffness and slip capacity. The experimental results demonstrated that the presented composite beams exhibited favorable demountability and reusability, in which no significant reduction in strength (less than 3%) and stiffness (less than 5%), but a slight improvement in ductility was observed for the reassembled specimens. Employing oversized preformed holes could ease the fabrication and installation process, yet led to a considerable degradation in both strength and stiffness. With filling the oversized holes with grout, an effective enhancement of the strength and stiffness can be achieved, while causing a difficulty in the demounting of shear connectors. On the basis of the experimental results, more accurate formulations, which considered the effect of bolt-hole clearance, were proposed to predict the shear strength as well as the load-slip relationship of HSFGBs in steel-precast UHPC composite beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.419-433
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• 2021

In composite structures, shear connectors are crucial components to resist the relative slip between the steel and concrete, and thereby to achieve the composite actions. In the service stage, composite structures are usually in elastic state, so the elastic stiffness of the shear connection is a quite important parameter in the structural analysis of composite structures. Nevertheless, the existing studies mainly focus on the load-slip relationship rather than the tangent stiffness at the initial elastic stage. Furthermore, when composite beams subjected to torque or local load, shear connections are affected by both tensile force and shear force. However, the stiffness of shear connections under combined effects appears not to have been discussed hitherto. This paper investigates the initial elastic stiffness of stud connections under combined effects of biaxial forces. The initial expression and the relevant parameters are obtained by establishing a simplified analytical model of the stud connection. Afterwards, parametric finite element analysis is performed to investigate the effects of the relevant factors, including the stud length, stud diameter, elastic modulus of concrete, elastic modulus of steel and volume ratio of reinforcement. The feasibility of the proposed modelling has been proved by comparing with sufficient experimental tests. Based on the analytical analysis and the extensive numerical simulations, design equations for predicting the initial elastic stiffness of stud connections are proposed. The comparison between the equations and the data of finite element models demonstrates that the equations are accurate enough to serve for engineering communities.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.451-469
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• 2023

The use of precast hollow-core slabs (PCHCS) in civil construction has been increasing due to the speed of execution and reduction in the weight of flooring systems. However, in the literature there are no studies that present a finite element model (FEM) to predict the load-slip relationship behavior of pushout tests, considering headed stud shear connector and PCHCS placed at the upper flange of the downstand steel profile. Thus, the present paper aims to develop a FEM, which is based on tests to fill this gap. For this task, geometrical non-linear analyses are carried out in the ABAQUS software. The FEM is calibrated by sensitivity analyses, considering different types of analysis, the friction coefficient at the steel-concrete interface, as well as the constitutive model of the headed stud shear connector. Subsequently, a parametric study is performed to assess the influence of the number of connector lines, type of filling and height of the PCHCS. The results are compared with analytical models that predict the headed stud resistance. In total, 158 finite element models are processed. It was concluded that the dynamic implicit analysis (quasi-static) showed better convergence of the equilibrium trajectory when compared to the static analysis, such as arc-length method. The friction coefficient value of 0.5 was indicated to predict the load-slip relationship behavior of all models investigated. The headed stud shear connector rupture was verified for the constitutive model capable of representing the fracture in the stress-strain relationship. Regarding the number of connector lines, there was an average increase of 108% in the resistance of the structure for models with two lines of connectors compared to the use of only one. The type of filling of the hollow core slab that presented the best results was the partial filling. Finally, the greater the height of the PCHCS, the greater the resistance of the headed stud.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.489-507
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• 2004

The flexibility of the connection between steel and concrete largely influences the global behaviour of the composite beam. Therefore the way the connection is modelled is the key issue in its structural analysis. Here we present a new strain-based finite element formulation in which we consider non-linear material and contact models. The computational efficiency and accuracy of the formulation is proved with the comparison of our numerical results with the experimental results of Abdel Aziz (1986) obtained in a full-scale laboratory test. The shear connectors are assumed to follow a non-linear load-slip relationship proposed by Ollgaard et al. (1971). We introduce the notion of the generalized slip, which offers a better physical interpretation of the behaviour of the contact and gives an additional material slip parameter. An excellent agreement of experimental and numerical results is obtained, using only a few finite elements. This demonstrates that the present numerical approach is appropriate for the evaluation of behaviour of planar composite beams and perfect for practical calculations.