• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 2017

Current form of Corrugated-strip connectors are not popular due to the fact that the two ends of this form need to be welded to steel face plates. To overcome this difficulty, a new system is proposed in this work. In this system, bi-directional corrugated-strip connectors are used in pairs, and only one of their ends is welded to the steel face plates on each side. The other end is embedded in the concrete core. To assemble the system, common welding devices are required, and welding process can be performed in the construction sites. By performing the Push-out test under static loading, the authors experimentally assess the effects of geometric parameters on ductility, failure modes and the ultimate shear strength of the aforesaid connectors. For this purpose, sixteen experimental samples are prepared and investigated. For fifteen of these samples, one end of the shear connectors is welded to steel face plates, and the other end is embedded in the concrete. Another experimental sample is prepared in which both ends are welded to the steel face plates. According to the achieved results, several relations are proposed for predicting the ultimate shear strength and load vs. interlayer slip (load-slip) behavior of corrugated-strip connectors. Moreover, these formulas are compared with those of the well-known codes and standards. Accordingly, it is concluded that the authors' relations are more reliable.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.175-193
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• 2023

Stainless steel-concrete composite beam has become an attractive structural form for offshore bridges and iconic high-rise buildings, owing to the superior corrosion resistance and excellent ductility of stainless steel material. In a composite beam, stainless steel shear connectors play an important role by establishing the interconnection between stainless steel beam and concrete slab. To enable the best use of high strength stainless steel shear connectors in composite beams, high strength concrete is recommended. To date, the application of stainless steel shear connectors in composite beams is still very limited due to the lack of research and proper design recommendations. In this paper, a total of seven pushout specimens were tested to investigate the load-slip behaviour of stainless steel shear connectors. A thorough discussion has been made on the differences between stainless steel bolted connectors and welded studs, in terms of the failure modes, load-slip behaviour and ultimate shear resistance. In parallel with the experimental programme, a finite element model was developed in ABAQUS to simulate the behaviour of stainless steel shear connectors, with which the effects of shear connector strength, concrete strength and embedded connector height to diameter ratio (h/d) were evaluated. The obtained experimental and numerical results were analysed and compared with existing codes of practice, including AS/NZS 2327, EN 1994-1-1 and ANSI/AISC 360-16. The comparison results indicated that the current codes need to be improved for the design of high strength stainless steel shear connectors. On this basis, modified design approaches were proposed to predict the shear capacity of stainless steel bolted connectors and welded studs in the composite beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2022

For multi-story structural systems, Korean steel industry has fostered development of a steel-concrete composite beam. Configuration of the composite beam is characterized by steel angle shear connectors welded to a U-shaped cold formed-steel beam. Effects of shear connector orientation and spacing were studied to evaluate current application of the angle shear connector design equation in AC495. For the study, interfacial shear resistance behavior was investigated by conducting 24 push-out tests and attuned using unreinforced push-out specimens. Interfacial shear to horizontal slip response was reported along with corresponding failure patterns. Pure shear connector strength was also evaluated by excluding concrete shear contribution, which was estimated in relation to steel beam-slab interface separation or interfacial crack width.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.551-563
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• 2022

Bolted connector could be an alternative to replace the conventional welded headed stud in steel-ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) lightweight composite structures. In this paper, a novel demountable bolted shear connector, consisting of a high-strength bolt (HSB) and a specially-designed nut which is pre-embedded in a thin UHPC slab, is proposed, which may result in the quick installation and disassembly, due to the mountable, demountable and reusable features. In order to study the shear behavior of the new type of bolted shear connector, static push-out tests were conducted on five groups of the novel demountable bolted shear connector specimens and one group of conventional welded headed stud specimen for comparison. The effect of the bolt shank diameter and aspect ratio of bolt on failure mode, shear stiffness, peak slip at the steel-UHPC interface, shear strength and ductility of novel bolted connectors is investigated. Additionally, design formula for the shear strength is proposed to check the suitability for assessment of the novel demountable bolted shear connectors.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.751-762
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• 2022

Welded head studs are mainly used as shear connectors to bond steel girders and concrete slabs in steel-concrete composite bridges. For welded shear connectors, environmental problems include noise and scattering dust which are generated during the removal of damaged or aged slabs. Therefore, it is necessary to develop demountable shear connectors that can easily replace aged concrete slabs for efficient maintenance and thus for better management of environmental problems and life cycle costs. The buried nut method is commonly studied in relation to bolted shear connectors, but this method is not used in civil structures such as bridges due to low rigidity, low shear resistance, and increased initial slip. In this study, in order to mitigate these problems, a demountable bolted shear connector is proposed in which the buried nut is integrated into the stud column and has a tapered shape at the bottom of an enlarged column shank. To verify the performance of the proposed demountable stud bolts in terms of static shear strength and slip displacement, a horizontal shear test was conducted, with the performance outcomes compared to those of conventional welded studs. It was confirmed that the proposed demountable bolted shear connector is capable of excellent shear performance and that it satisfies the slip displacement and ductility design criteria, meaning that it is feasible as a replacement for existing welding studs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.391-404
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• 2007

This paper presents push-out tests of stud shear connectors to examine their fatigue behavior for developing a new composite bridge deck system. The fifteen push-out specimens of D16 mm stud welded on 9 mm steel plate were fabricated according to Eurocode-4, and a series of fatigue endurance test and residual strength test were performed. Additionally, the stiffness and strength variations by cyclic loading were compared. The push-out test, when the stiffness reduction ratio of the specimens was 0.95 under cyclic load, resulted in the failure of the studs. The stiffness variation of the push-out specimens additionally showed that the application of cyclic loads reduced the residual strength. The fatigue strength of the shear connectors were compared with the design values specified in the Eurocode-4, ASSHTO LRFD and JSSC codes. The comparison result showed that the fatigue endurance of the specimens satisfies the design values of these codes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.155-167
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• 2014

Steel-concrete composite beam has been used for a considerable time in building construction. An essential component of a composite beam is the shear connection between the steel section and the concrete slabs, which is provided by mechanical shear connectors. A variety of shapes and devices have been in use as shear connectors. This study summarizes the results of an experimental investigation involving the testing of push-out specimens with angle shear connectors. All of 22 push-out specimens were designed to study the effect of a number of parameters on the shear capacity of angle shear connectors such as the height of the angle connector, the length of welding, and the pitch of angles. Based on the test results, a design equation was developed for predicting the shear strength of angle shear connectors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.123-133
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• 2018

Steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich composite structure with corrugated-strip connectors (CSC) has the potential to be used in buildings and offshore structures. In this structure, CSCs are used to bond steel face plates and concrete. To overcome executive problems, in the proposed system by the authors, shear connectors are one end welded as double skin composites. Hence, this system double skin with corrugated-strip connectors (DSCS) is named. In this paper, finite element model (FEM) of push-out test was presented for the basic component of DSCS. ABAQUS/Explicit solver in ABAQUS was used due to the geometrical complexity of the model, especially in the interaction of the shear connectors with concrete. In order that the explicit analysis has a quasi-static behavior with a proper approximation, the kinetic energy (ALLKE) did not exceed 5% to 10% of the internal energy (ALLIE) using mass-scaling. The FE analysis (FEA) was validated against those from the push-out tests in the previous work of the authors published in this journal. By comparing load-slip curves and failure modes, FEMs with suitable analysis speed were consistent with test results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.407-426
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• 2022

Superior to traditional welded studs, high strength friction-grip bolted shear connectors facilitate the assembling and demounting of the composite members, which maximizes the potential for efficiency in the construction and retrofitting of new and old structures respectively. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the structural properties of high strength friction-grip bolts used in steel concrete composite beams. By means of push-out tests, an experimental study was conducted on post-installed high strength friction-grip bolts, considering the effects of different bolt size, concrete strength, bolt tensile strength and bolt pretension. The test results showed that bolt shear fracture was the dominant failure mode of all specimens. Based on the load-slip curves, uplifting curves and bolt tensile force curves between the precast concrete slab and steel beam obtained by push-out tests, the anti-slip performance of steel-concrete interface and shear behavior of bolt shank were studied, including the quantitative analysis of anti-slip load, and anti-slip stiffness, frictional coefficient, shear stiffness of bolt shank and ultimate shear capacity. Meanwhile, the interfacial anti-slip stiffness and shear stiffness of bolt shank were defined reasonably. In addition, a total of 56 push-out finite element models verified by the experimental results were also developed, and used to conduct parametric analyses for investigating the shear behavior of high-strength bolted shear connectors in steel-concrete composite beams. Finally, on ground of the test results and finite element simulation analysis, a new design formula for predicting shear capacity was proposed by nonlinear fitting, considering the bolt diameter, concrete strength and bolt tensile strength. Comparison of the calculated value from proposed formula and test results given in the relevant references indicated that the proposed formulas can give a reasonable prediction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.319-336
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• 2024

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has attracted increasing attention in prefabricated steel-concrete composite beams as achieving the onsite construction time savings and structural performance improvement. The inferior replacement and removal efficiency of conventional prefabricated steel-UHPC composite beams (PSUCBs) has thwarted its sustainable applications because of the widely used welded-connectors. Single embedded nut bolted shear connectors (SENBs) have recently introduced as an attempt to enhance demountability of PSUCBs. An in-depth exploration of the mechanical behavior of SENBs in UHPC is necessary to evidence feasibilities of corresponding PSUCBs. However, existing research has been limited to SENB arrangement impacts and lacked considerations on SENB geometric configuration counterparts. To this end, this paper performed twenty push-out tests and theoretical analyses on the shear performance and design recommendation of SENBs. Key test parameters comprised the diameter and grade of SENBs, degree and sequence of pretension, concrete casting method and connector type. Test results indicated that both diameters and grades of bolts exerted remarkable impacts on the SENB shear performance with respect to the shear and frictional responses. Also, there was limited influence of the bolt preload degrees on the shear capacity and ductility of SENBs, but non-negligible contributions to their corresponding frictional resistance and initial shear stiffness. Moreover, inverse pretension sequences or monolithic cast slabs presented slight improvements in the ultimate shear and slip capacity. Finally, design-oriented models with higher accuracy were introduced for predictions of the ultimate shear resistance and load-slip relationship of SENBs in PSUCBs.