Investigation of Steel-Concrete Composite Beams with Different Types of Shear Connectors

Abstract

A ten steel-concrete composite beams subdivided into five groups formed from standard steel section (W4X13) connected to concrete slab are designed and constructed using three different types of mechanical shear connectors. A stud connector and regular circular hole perfobond connectors are used in addition to a newly suggested type of triangular hole perfobond connector. The beams are experimentally tested using two-point load beam test to investigate the effect of connector’s type on beam resistance at yielding and ultimate stages. The tests also investigate the deflection at mid-span and slip at the ends of the tested beams. It is found that the composite beams with perfobond connectors can develop a strength higher than those obtained with stud connectors, as well as the newly suggested triangular perfobond connector gives strength higher than the regular circular perfobond. Results also show that continuous distribution of perfobond connectors gives resistance more than those with separated perfobond connectors.