Abstract
Abstract In this work, a finite element-based approach is presented to study the effective width variation in non-pre-stressed steel-concrete beams under the serviceability stage, including time dependent effects such as concrete creep, shrinkage and cracking. For this purpose, the viscoelasticity theory in conjunction with a nonlinear cracking monitoring algorithm is used to trace the nonlinear viscoelastic response of the structure along time. The present numerical model is fully three-dimensional and permits the inclusion of partial interaction at the slab-beam interface. A comprehensive study is carried out on the long-term response of a composite girder bridge previously studied by other researches. Then, previous results are revised and extended herein. Potential shortcomings of some standard codes related to the effective width evaluation are also investigated. It is demonstrated that the slab effective width varies sharply along the beam axis in the short-term, while it approaches to the actual slab width in the long-term. For the studied example, the common assumption of using only the middle layer of the reinforced concrete (RC) slab for the effective width calculation is revised with a through-thickness integration procedure. The influence of some creep and shrinkage models as well as the ultimate tensile concrete strain on the effective width response is also assessed. Finally, a simple formula is proposed to evaluate the short-term slab effective width for the studied example.
Highlights
The use of steel-concrete composite beams has a major role in building and bridge engineering
The actual non-uniform stress distribution acting across a slab width due to the shear lag effect, with a maximum stress value occurring at the reinforced concrete (RC) slab edge or center, is addressed using an equivalent uniform stress distribution
Reginato et al Finite element study of effective width in steel-concrete composite beams under long-term service loads boundary conditions are not necessary the same at the fixed ends; 2) Macorini et al.’s model uses a special connection system with zero-length contact elements located at the slab-beam interface for simulating slipping, a special beam-column element is used in the present finite element (FE) model; 3) Out-plane shear stresses are considered elastic in Macorini et al.’s concrete model at all times, whereas they are viscoelastic in this work; 4) The manner in which cracked strains are treated in each constitutive model is different
Summary
The use of steel-concrete composite beams has a major role in building and bridge engineering. Dezi et al (2001) proposed an analytical model for studying the shear lag behavior of composite girders under long-term loads, considering only the creep effect of the RC slab in the computed response. Only a few studies (Macorini et al, 2006, Chen and Zhang 2006, Xue et al 2008) have addressed the effect of concrete creep, shrinkage and cracking simultaneously over the entire service life of nonpre-stressed steel-concrete composite beams with emphasis to the effective width evaluation. Reginato et al Finite element study of effective width in steel-concrete composite beams under long-term service loads
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