Behaviour of transversely loaded continuous steel–concrete composite plates: experimental program and test results

Abstract

It is apparent from a review of the literature and current research related to the design of ice-resisting walls for offshore structures that there is a need for more efficient designs of these structural elements. The object of this study was to examine an alternate structural element for ice-resisting walls, a flexible composite plate system, which is simple in detail, design, and construction and utilizes the capacity of the section.An exploratory experimental program was undertaken to determine the strength and behaviour of flexible steel–concrete composite sandwich plates, without mechanical shear interconnectors, subject to transverse loads. A series of six composite plate elements, continuous over supporting composite bulkheads and axially restrained, were tested with a four-point load system. The primary variables investigated were plate thickness, which varied from 3.18 to 6.35 mm, and section depth which gave span-to-depth ratios from 15 to 25.Three regions of behaviour of the composite plates were observed: flexural, flexural membrane, and membrane. The flexural capacity is limited by the development of a plastic mechanism, and the ultimate capacity is limited by the tensile–shear strength of the double membrane steel plates. The average maximum centre-span deflection at failure exceeded one-sixth of the span. The characteristics of the flexible composite plates make it a favourable alternative to conventional and semi-rigid composite plate construction. Key words: composite, concrete, ductility, energy absorption, flexible, flexural behaviour, membrane behaviour, plates, steel.