Experimental study on steel-concrete composite beams with Uplift-restricted and slip-permitted screw-type (URSP-S) connectors

Abstract

In steel-concrete composite beams, to improve the cracking resistance of the concrete slab in the hogging moment region, a new type of connector in the interface, named uplift-restricted and slip-permitted screw-type (URSP-S) connector has been proposed. This paper focuses on the behavior of steel-concrete composite beams with URSP-S connectors. A total of three beam specimens including a simply supported beam with URSP-S connectors and two continuous composite beams with different connectors arrangements were designed and tested. More specifically, one continuous composite beam was equipped with URSP-S connectors in negative moment region and traditional shear studs in other regions. For comparison, the other one was designed with only traditional shear studs. The failure modes, crack evolution process, ultimate capacities, strain responses at different locations as well as the interface slip of the three tested specimens were measured and evaluated in-depth. Based on the experimental study, the research findings indicate that the larger slip deformation is allowed while using URSP-S connectors. Meanwhile, the tensile stress reduces and the cracking resistance of the concrete slab improves accordingly. In addition, the overall stiffness and strength of the composite beam become slightly lower than those of the composite beam using traditional shear studs. Moreover, the arrangement suggestion of URSP-S connectors in the composite beam is discussed in this paper for its practical design and application.