Numerical study on the deformation behavior of steel concrete composite girders considering partial shear interaction

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the study of deformation behavior of steel concrete composite (SCC) girders with partial shear interaction. The main objective of this work is to bring out the relative significance of the partial shear interaction with respect to full interaction, which has been addressed with the help of parametric study considering various influencing parameters such as, degree of shear connection, span length, type of loading, distribution of shear stud connectors, geometry of steel girder, yield strength of structural steel and concrete grade. The parametric study has been carried out using a simplified numerical modelling technique with the help of commercially available finite element software SAP2000. The numerical modelling involves simulation of composite action between the concrete deck and the steel girder in the SCC girder, which has been carried out by using various elements such as, beam elements, rigid link elements and spring elements. Further, a comparative study has been carried out to study the accuracy of numerical model with the available analytical models. The results of the numerical model are also compared with the results of the equations given in several national codes to calculate deflections, to study the efficacy of the codal provisions. It is seen that the various aforementioned parameters have considerable influence on the deformations of SCC girders. It is also seen that the change in distribution type of shear stud connectors considerably reduce their number without significantly affecting the deformations of SCC girder.