Abstract
The importance of slim decks has led engineers to the exploration of high-strength materials and also of innovative shallow shear connectors, such as composite dowels in the case of composite constructions. Minimizing the overall slab depth often leads to composite girders being weakened by means of web openings that are necessary for installations such as ventilation ducts. Depending on the geometrical and loading conditions, some of the shear connectors are subjected to a combination of tensile and shear forces. However, the load-bearing behaviour of these connectors has only been rudimentarily investigated in the case of shear-tensile interaction. In addition, the load-bearing capacity of composite dowels under combined tensile and shear forces has not been investigated in cracked concrete. Earlier investigations under pure shear and pure tensile loading indicate a dependence of the connectors’ load-bearing behaviour on the crack width, so that under combined loading, a similar influence is expected. In this paper, experimental investigations on composite dowels in transversely cracked concrete under systematically varied shear-tension loading combinations are presented. Hereby, predefined crack widths and patterns were considered using a special test rig. Finally, a design approach for concrete failure of composite dowels under shear-tension loading is proposed based on the test results.
Highlights
The interconnection of steel–concrete composite girders can be achieved by means of shear connectors such as headed studs, perfobond connectors, composite dowels, and other suitable structural elements capable of transferring shear and tensile forces
While high stiffness is required from the connectors to minimize the deflection of composite girders, they must be ductile in order to allow for force redistribution within the composite joint and a plastic design
The investigated issue, the load-bearing behaviour of composite simultaneously, as shown in two common examples in. In the former, the in cracked concrete subjected to combined shear and tensile loading, mainly concerns plastic hinges forming in the edges of web openings lead to significant curvature and building constructions characterized by small concrete covers, for which composite dowels cracks in thetoconcrete belt, thefailure dowels that are subjected to steel high failure tensile isor are expected fail either duewhile to steel orin due to region concrete pry-out
Summary
The interconnection of steel–concrete composite girders can be achieved by means of shear connectors such as headed studs, perfobond connectors, composite dowels, and other suitable structural elements capable of transferring shear and tensile forces. In the former, the plastic hinges forming in the edges of web openings lead to significant curvature and cracks in the concrete belt, while the dowels in that region are subjected to high tensile or compressive forces, in addition to shear forces due to the composite action of the girder. In the case of a halved steel girder used as external reinforcement and positioned in the lower part of the web of a T-sectioned concrete beam, as shown, the dowels must transfer both shear and tensile loads As expected, within this region of the concrete web, high longitudinal tensile stresses occur and lead to transverse cracks.
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