Approximate Analysis of Simply Supported Composite Beams with Partial Interaction

Abstract

An approximate analysis method was presented for the analysis and design of a simply supported composite beam with partial interaction. To solve the governing differential equation in linear elastic partial interaction theory, the internal axial force was approximated by Fourier series. In case studies, the internal axial force, slip and displacement of the beam were obtained for some load cases such as temperature load, end moment, point load and uniformly distributed load. From the study for convergence of the approximate solution, the relative error for the displacement was converged below about 0.1% at more than the fifth order of Fourier series. This method can be applied to arbitrary loading conditions. Also, the results are sufficiently accurate for determining the behavior of the composite beam with partial interaction for the design purpose.