Compressive behavior of double-skin composite walls considering local buckling and post-buckling effect

Abstract

This paper presents axial compressive experiments of double-skin composite walls (DSCWs) with novel dumbbell-shaped connectors (DSCs) and traditional headed studs. The effects of the wall thickness, material strength, and diameter and number of the headed studs on the axial behavior of the DSCWs were analyzed. The failure modes of the specimens included the local buckling of the steel plates and compressive crushing of the concrete. The buckling position was between two adjacent rows of connectors. The experimental results demonstrated that the denser the arrangement of the connectors and the larger the diameter of the headed studs, the higher the critical buckling stress and axial bearing capacity of the specimens. The compressive stress–strain relationship of the steel material was determined considering the buckling and post-buckling behaviors of steel plates. According to the superposition principle, the theoretical load–displacement relationships of the five specimens were calculated, and the theoretical curves were in good agreement with the experimental results. The calculation formula for the axial bearing capacity of the specimens was introduced with some simplified assumptions, and the average value of the experiment/calculation ratio was 96.14%. ABAQUS software was used to simulate the DSCW specimens, and the failure modes of the models were in good agreement with the experiments. The average value of the experiment/simulation ratio for the peak load was 98.77%. Based on the verified benchmark model, the effects of four parameters on the compressive behavior of DSCWs were analyzed.