STE 402

Composite Structures

Lecture 2
Shear Connection
Shear Connection
 The simplest type of composite member used in practice
occurs in floor structures of the type shown in Figure
 The force applied to this connection is mainly, but not
entirely, is the longitudinal shear force
 longitudinal shear

Typical cross-sections of composite beams

Composite Beams
 Components of a
typical modern
composite-floor
system
 Effect of shear connection on simple beam
 Shear connection (No shear
Interaction)
 A load w per unit length over a span L, and its components
are made of an elastic material with Young's modulus E.
The weight of the beam is neglected.
 The upper beam cannot deflect more than the lower one,
so each carries load w/2 per unit length.
 Moment of Interia =bh3/12
 The mid-span bending moment in each beam is wL2/16.
 Shear connection (No shear
Interaction)
 The maximum shear stress, T, occurs near a support. The
parabolic distribution given by simple elastic theory

 The maximum deflection, , is given by the usual formula

 Shear connection (No shear
Interaction)
 The bending moment in each beam at a section distant x
from mid-span is

 so that the longitudinal strain Ex at the bottom fibre of the

upper beam is

 There is an equal and opposite strain in the top fibre of the

lower beam, so that the difference between the strains in
these adjacent fibres, known as the slip strain, is 2Ex.
 Shear connection (No shear
Interaction)
 The slip at the interface, s, is zero at x = 0 (from symmetry)
and a maximum at x = ±Ll2.
 The cross-section at x = 0 is the only one where plane
sections remain plane.
 The slip strain, is rate of change of displacement, slip strain
is the rate of change of slip along the beam.


By Integration, where S = 0 at x = 0, the slip .

 Effect of shear connection on simple beam

• Some idea of the magnitude of this slip is given by relating it to

the maximum deflection, the ratio of slip to deflection is 3.2h / L.
•The ratio L / 2h for a beam is typically about 20, so that the end
slip is less than a tenth of the deflection.
•We conclude that shear connection must be very stiff if it is to
be effective.
 Effect of shear connection on simple beam

The beam span =10m

 Effect of shear connection on simple beam
At mid-span, slip strain is a maximum and slip is zero, At
the ends of the beam, slip is a maximum and slip strain is
zero. The maximum slip (when x = L/2) is wL3/4Ebh2
Shear connection (Full Interaction)
 If the two halves of the beam are joined together by an
infinitely stiff shear connection.
 The two members then behave as one. Slip and slip strain
are everywhere zero, and it can be assumed that plane
sections remain plane.
 This situation is known as full interaction

 The vertical shear at section x is:

Shear connection (Full Interaction)
 If so the shear stress at the neutral axis is

 and the maximum shear stress is

 Comparing the shear stress with those for the non-

composite beam, the maximum shear stress is unchanged,
but the maximum bending stress is halved.

 The mid-span deflection is

 which is one-quarter of the non-composite deflection

Shear connection (Full Interaction)

 Thus the provision of shear connection increases both the

strength and the stiffness
 In practice leads to a reduction in the size of the beam
required for a given loading, and usually to a reduction in its
cost.
 In this example - but not always - the interface AOB
coincides with the neutral axis of the composite member,
so that the maximum longitudinal shear stress at the
interface is equal to the maximum vertical shear stress,
 which occurs at x = ± Ll2 and is 3wL l 8bh,
Shear connection (Full Interaction)
 The shear connection must be designed for the longitudinal
shear per unit length, v, which is known as the shear flow.

 The total shear flow in a half span is found, by integration of

equation , will be 3wL2/(32h). Typically, Ll2h = 20, so the shear
connection in the whole span has to resist a total shear force

 Thus, this shear force is eight times the total load carried by
the beam.
 It must strength of the shear connection for a beam is an order
of magnitude greater than the load to be carried
Shear connection (Full Interaction)

 In elastic design, the shear connectors are spaced in

accordance with the shear flow. This is known as
'triangular' spacing
Shear connection (Full Interaction)

 Thus, if the design shear resistance of a connector is PRd,

the pitch or spacing at which they should be provided, p, is
given by

 This is known as 'triangular' spacing, from the shape of the

graph of v against x
 Methods of shear connection)
Bond
 The transfer of shear from steel to concrete was assumed to
occur by bond or adhesion at the concrete-steel interface.
 Where the steel component of a composite member is
surrounded by reinforced concrete, as in an encased beam,
or an encased stanchion.
 But in design it is necessary to restrict bond stress to a low
value, to provide a margin for the incalculable effects of
shrinkage of concrete, poor adhesion to the underside of steel
surfaces, and stresses due to variations of temperature.
 Research on the ultimate strength of cased beams, that at
 high loads, calculated bond stresses have little meaning,
due to the development of cracking and local bond failures.
Methods of shear connection)
Shear connectors
The most widely used type of shear connectors is the headed stud. The stud shear
connector is a short length of round steel bar welded to the steel beam at one end
and having an anchorage provided in the form of a round head at the other end .

 The most common diameters are

13 to 25mm, and in length (h)

from 65 to 100 and h/d ≥ 4

Shear connectors (cont.)

 The advantages of stud connectors are:

1. The welding process is rapid.

2. They provide little obstruction to reinforcement in the

concrete slab.
3. They are equally strong and stiff in shear in all directions
normal to the axis of the stud.
 The current British code of practice requires the steel from
which the studs are manufactured to have an ultimate
tensile strength of at least 450 N/mm2 and an elongation
of at least 15%.
Shear connectors (cont.)
 There are two factors that influence the diameter of studs.
One is the welding process, which becomes increasingly
difficult and expensive at diameters exceeding 20 mm,
 and the other is the thickness t of the plate or flange to
which the stud is welded.
 the full static strength of the stud can be developed if
 d/t is less than about 2.7, and a limit of 2.5 is given in
Eurocode 4.
 The maximum shear force that can be resisted by a stud is
relatively low, about 150 kN.
Shear connectors cont.

Other types of connector with higher strength have been developed,

primarily for use in bridges. with ultimate shear strengths up to 1000 kN.
Shear connection for profiled steel
sheeting
As it is impracticable to weld shear connectors to material that may
be less than 1 mm thick, shear connection is provided either by
pressed or rolled dimples that project into the concrete, or by giving
the steel profile a re-entrant shape that prevents separation of the
steel from the concrete.
Composite slabs

The deck is cold-formed steel sheet, and some means of ensuring

mechanical interlock with the hardened concrete is provided.

a) fluted deck (b) embossed deck

Properties of shear connectors
 The property of a shear connector most relevant to design
is the relationship between the shear force transmitted, P,
and the slip at the interface, s.
 This load-slip curve should ideally be found from tests on
composite beams, but in practice a simpler specimen is
necessary. Most of the data on connectors have been
obtained from various types of 'push-out' or 'push‘ test.
 The flanges of a short length of steel I-section are
connected to two small concrete slabs. The details of the
'standard push test' of Eurocode 4
Push-out Test
 Shear connectors (cont.)
 The load-slip relationship is influenced by many variables
such as:
 Number, type and strength of connectors in the test
specimen.
 Size, arrangement and strength of slab reinforcement in the
vicinity of the connectors.
 Thickness of concrete surrounding the connectors.
 Strength of the concrete slab.
 Bond at the steel-concrete interface
 Degree of compaction of the concrete surrounding the base
of each connector.
 Shear connectors (cont.)
 Tests have to be done for a range of concrete strengths,
because the strength of the concrete influences the mode
of failure, as well as the failure load. Studs may reach their
maximum load when the concrete surrounding them fails,
but in stronger concrete, they may be sheared off. This is
why the design shear resistance of studs with h/d ≥ 4 is
given in Eurocode (EC4) as the lesser of the following two
values:
Shear connectors (cont.)

Where fu is the ultimate tensile strength of the steel (< 500 N/mm2),
and fck and Ecrn are the cylinder strength and mean secant
( elastic) modulus of the concrete, respectively. The value
recommended for the partial safety factor 'Yv is 1.25, based on
statistical calibration studies. When fu = 450 N/mm2, first
equation governs when fck exceeds about 30 N/mm2.
Shear connectors (cont.)
Shear connectors (cont.)

•The force PR is distributed

over a length of connector
equal to twice the shank ,
and concentrated near the
base, as sketched in Figure Bearing stress on the shank of a stud
connector.
Shear connectors (cont.)
For class C40/50 concrete, so for these concretes the mean
bearing stress at concrete failure ranges from 5.5fck to 4.3fck.
It is clear that the effective compressive strength is several
times the cylinder strength of the concrete.
This very high strength is possible only because the concrete
bearing on the connector is restrained laterally by the
surrounding concrete, its reinforcement, and the steel flange.
The results of push tests are likely to be influenced by the
degree of compaction of the concrete, and even by the
arrangement of particles of aggregate, in this small but critical
region. This is thought to be the main reason for the scatter
of the results obtained. The usual way of allowing for this
scatter is to specify that the characteristic resistance PRk be
taken as 10% below the lowest of the results from three tests,
Shear connectors (cont.)

•There are two situations in which the resistance of a

connector found from push tests may be too high for use in
design.
•One is repeated loading, such as that due to the passage of
traffic over a bridge.
•The other is where the lateral restraint to the concrete in
contact with the connector is less than that provided in a
push test, as in a haunched beam with connectors too close
to a free surface (shown figure).
For this reason, the use of the standard equations for
resistance of connectors is allowed in haunched beams only
where the cross-section of the haunch satisfies certain
conditions.
Shear connectors (cont.)
Tests show that the ability
of lightweight-aggregate
concrete to resist the
high local stresses at shear
connectors is slightly less
than that of normal density
concrete of the same cube
strength. This is allowed for
in Eurocode 4, For concrete
of density 1750 kglm3 Bearing stress on the shank of a stud
, the resistance is only 73% connector.
of that for normal-density
concrete.
Stud connectors used with profiled
steel sheeting

Where profiled sheeting is used, stud connectors are located

within concrete ribs that have the shape of a haunch, which
may run in any direction relative to the direction of span of
the composite beam. Tests show that the shear resistance of
connectors is sometimes lower than it is in a solid slab, for
materials of the same strength, because of local failure of the
concrete rib.
For sheeting with ribs parallel to the beam, the factor is
Stud connectors used with profiled
steel sheeting

Where profiled sheeting is used, stud connectors are located

within concrete ribs that have the shape of a haunch, which
may run in any direction relative to the direction of span of
the composite beam. Tests show that the shear resistance of
connectors is sometimes lower than it is in a solid slab, for
materials of the same strength, because of local failure of the
concrete rib.
For sheeting with ribsparallel to the beam, the factor is