Short- and long-term analyses of composite beams with partial interaction stiffened by a longitudinal plate

Abstract

This paper presents a novel analytical formulation for the analysis of composite beams with partial shear interaction stiffened by a bolted longitudinal plate accounting for time effects, such as creep and shrinkage. The model is derived by means of the principle of virtual work using a displacement-based formulation. The particularity of this approach is that the partial interaction behaviour is assumed to exist between the top slab and the joist as well as between the joist and the bolted longitudinal stiffening plate, therefore leading to a three-layered structural representation. For this purpose, a novel finite element is derived and presented. Its accuracy is validated based on short-and long-term analyses for the particular cases of full shear interaction and partial shear interaction of two layers for which solutions in closed form are available in the literature. A parametric study is carried out considering different stiffening arrangements to investigate the influence on the short-and long-term behaviour of the composite beam of the shear connection stiffness between the concrete slab and the steel joist, the stiffness of the plate-to-beam connection, the properties of the longitudinal plate and the concrete properties. The values of the deflection obtained from the finite element simulations are compared against those calculated using the effective flexural rigidity in accordance with EC5 guidelines for the behaviour of elastic multi-layered beams with flexible connection and it is shown how the latter well predicts the structural response. The proposed numerical examples highlight the ease of use of the proposed approach in determining the effectiveness of different retrofitting solutions at service conditions.