Numerical analysis of steel–concrete composite beams with partial interaction: A plastic-hinge approach

Abstract

A two-dimensional displacement-based formulation with a plastic-hinge approach for the numerical analysis of composite beams with partial shear connection is presented here. The co-rotational approach is applied in the numerical model to allow large displacements and rotations. The axial and transverse displacement functions are defined to avoid locking problems. The simulation of the materials and shear connection nonlinear behaviors are approached via the strain compatibility method (SCM), where the constitutive relations are explicitly used. The slip in the steel section–concrete slab interface is considered by the axial force decomposition in the cross-section level by the degree of composite action, without introducing degrees of freedom in the finite element. The numerical proposal of the present work is tested by simulating steel–concrete composite beams and comparing the obtained results with the experimental and numerical data already known. This formulation is verified as numerically stable and without locking phenomena, and good convergence with literature results was obtained. However, more refined finite element (FE) meshes are needed.