Analysis of the Behaviour of Composite Connections in Multi-Storey Buildings Under Earthquake Loading

In the past years, number of beams and slabs in steel structures that are executed as composite steel – concrete elements has significantly increased. In moment-resisting frames with composite steel – concrete slabs, slab reinforcement in tensile zone needs to be considered in design of composite steel – concrete beam – to – column connections with steel plates and bolts in tensile zone. However, the number of reinforcement bars that should be taken into account in connection design significantly depends on the effective width of the concrete slab. Moreover, directions for calculation of the effective width of the concrete slab are still not unambiguous as they can be calculated either according to recommendations from Eurocode 4 or Eurocode 8. In this paper, composite connections are briefly explained and main differences between composite steel – concrete beam – to – column connections and corresponding steel connections are summarized. Furthermore, behaviour of a composite steel – concrete beam – to – column connection under bending moment and shear force induced by earthquake loading is investigated using finite element analysis in software package Abaqus. Finally, a parametric study is carried out in order to examine the suitability of two code recommendations for determination of the effective width of concrete slab in case of seismic loading.