Bond Behavior in Flexural Members: Numerical Studies

Abstract

Adhesive bonding has recently emerged as an alternative to shear stud connection in steel–concrete composite flexural members. Research on adhesive-bonded steel–concrete composite flexural members is in a preliminary stage, and the behavior of the bond layer in these structures is not well understood yet. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed and used to conduct the parametric investigations. The developed model is validated with experimental results available in the literature. The behavior of the bond layer is defined in terms of normal stress, normal strain, shear stress, and shear strain. Seven different parameters are studied regarding their effect on the behavior of the bond layer. The parameters include load proportion factor, longitudinal distribution of load, transverse distribution of load, width of concrete slab, depth of the concrete slab, Young’s modulus of the adhesive and transverse location of the adhesive fiber. Parametric investigations are carried out to establish the relevance of parameters in terms of their effect on the behavior of the bond layer. The most significant parameters are identified as load proportion factor, longitudinal distribution of load, and Young’s modulus of adhesive.