Tensile behavior of stud connectors in high strength concrete

Abstract

Stud connectors are commonly used in steel-concrete composite structures. As high strength concrete (HSC) will be applied in the construction of a composite structure, it is needed to study the performance of stud connectors in HSC. In this study, tension (pull-out) tests were conducted on the studs with different combinations of diameters- d(13, 16, and 19 mm) and effective embedment depths- h ef (40, 60, and 80 mm) in HSC with a 28-day compressive strength of 88 MPa. Based on the experimental results, the concrete breakout failure mode dominates and only the scenario with the smallest diameter and largest h ef is controlled by steel failure mode. Because of high strength, the steel failure occurs at smaller h ef/ d in HSC than normal concrete. In the concrete breakout failure mode, brittle load–displacement behaviors are presented and the angle of the breakout cone ranges from 30∼35°, which is close to the concrete capacity design (CCD) method. Also, the ultimate tensile strength ( N u), stiffness, and pre-peak ductility are dependent on h ef and diameter . The existing prediction models (CCD method and variable angle cone method) both overestimate the N u in HSC, which is due to its lower ratio tensile/compressive strength than normal concrete. Considering the mechanism of how the breakout cone is formed, a modified reduced_CCD method is proposed for predicting N u of studs in HSC.