Structural Performance of Cold Formed Steel Composite Beams with Profiled Steel Sheeting

Abstract

This study presents an experimental study on cold-formed steel (CFS) composite beams with profiled steel sheeting. Four full-scale composite beam specimens comprising cold-formed double-lipped channel sections, profiled steel sheeting, concrete slabs, and bolted shear connectors were examined. The results show that profiled steel sheeting behaves like tensile reinforcement beside the concrete slab. Of particular interests were thickness and height of CFS beams. The results showed that for higher steel thickness, the failure mode was concrete crushing before CFS beam reached its yielding point. Besides, no failure occurred in the shear connections. By increasing the thickness of CFS from 1.25 to 2 mm, the ultimate loading capacity of composite beams increased almost 45%. This was due to the presence of the profiled steel sheeting and the strong connectors, which prevented sudden slip between the CFS beam and the concrete slab. A comparison between code-calculated and experimentally evaluated degree of shear connection shows that the results are so close. Furthermore, a 3D finite element model was established, and the numerical models were verified against experimental results and the behavior of structures were accurately simulated.