Effects of strain regimes on the behaviour of headed stud shear connectors for composite steel-concrete beams

In composite steel-concrete beam construction, one of the most common methods to evaluate shear connector strength and behaviour is through a push test. Push tests have been used as early as the 1960’s to predict the strength and behaviour of shear studs in solid slabs. The performance of steel-concrete composite structures is greatly dependent on the load-slip characteristics of shear connectors. Significant research work has been performed on composite beams with regard to their stiffness and ductility of the shear connectors for both solid and profiled slabs. This paper describes the strength and ductility of shear connectors in composite beams with both solid and profiled steel sheeting slabs when different strain regimes are imposed on the concrete element. An accurate non-linear finite element model using ABAQUS is developed herein to study the behaviour of shear connectors for both solid and profiled steel sheeting slabs. The reason for employing different strain regimes in composite steel-concrete beams is to properly simulate the behaviour of shear connectors in composite beams where trapezoidal slabs are used. The pertinent results obtained from the finite element analysis were verified against independent experimental results and existing design standards. Based on the finite element analysis and the experimental results, it is evident that the strength and the load-slip behaviour of composite steel-concrete beams are greatly influenced by the strain regimes existent in the concrete element.