Steel Plate Concrete Research Articles

Effective Concrete Failure Area for SC Structures Using Stud and Tie Bar Under Performance Tests.

Nuclear power plants, where steel-plate concrete (SC) structures are commonly adopted, require large-scale components to withstand significant loads, such as those caused by sudden explosions. As a result, SC modular members used in nuclear power plants must have thicker walls filled with concrete compared to standard-sized ones. These large walls also require additional components, such as tie bars and H-shaped steel sections, to reinforce adhesion and resist shear stresses. This study focuses on tie bars placed adjacent to studs and evaluates their influence on the tensile strength of wall structures. To investigate this, we conducted experimental tests using full-scale specimens, including various combinations ranging from single stud to combined stud-tie configurations. Based on the results of these performance tests, we propose a design recommendation for estimating the tensile capacity of SC structures, considering the influence of tie bars.

Behavior of steel-plate concrete wall-reinforced concrete slab joint with UHPC-strengthened lap-splice connection

The comprehensive integration of modular technology is the crucial pathway for advancing the upgraded Hua-long Pressurized Reactor (HPR1000). However, previous studies are limited and numerous challenges remain concerning the modular curved steel-plate concrete (SC) wall-reinforced concrete (RC) slab joint. This paper focuses on the behavior and design of the SC wall-RC slab joint through large-scale tests and numerical simulation. Two UHPC-strengthened non-contact lap splice (NS) connections, including versions with normal and headed rebars, were proposed to ensure effective load transfer and modular construction performance. The test results indicated that the four joint specimens subjected to cyclic loading did not experience lap splice failure but instead suffered interface shear failure and shear failure of the RC slab under shear-span ratios of 1.5 and 3.0, respectively. The excellent load transfer performance demonstrated by these two NS connections validates them as effective methods for this joint, with lap lengths of 21d for normal rebar and 13d for headed rebar deemed adequate. Besides, the developed three-dimensional FE model with non-linear spring element accurately simulated the test failure modes and F-Δ curves. The parametric study results recommended that the volumetric steel ratio of tie-bar should not be lower than 1.03 %. The tension of longitudinal rebars for normal and headed rebars can be fully transferred within 80 % of the designed lap length. Furthermore, a complete design method was established based on the load-transfer model, encompassing interfacial shear, lap length calculation and tie-bar configuration, and is applicable to SC-to-RC connections or joints.

Impact response of steel plate-concrete composite slabs with kinked rebar connectors

The steel plate-concrete (SC) composite slabs usually undergo large deformation under impact loading. To prevent early failure of the connectors and further improve the energy dissipation capacity, a novel kinked rebar connector (KR connector) is proposed for SC slabs. Pendulum impact tests on six specimens and numerical simulation are carried out to reveal the dynamic response and failure modes of KR-SC slabs with varying connector bending angles, diameters, and layout spacing. The results show that the finite element model can well predict the dynamic response of the KR-SC slabs under impact. The KR-SC slab reaches the best energy dissipation capacity at a connector bending angle of 45°.

Correction: Numerical Analysis of RC Frame Reinforced by Steel-Plate Concrete Module System

Correction: Numerical Analysis of RC Frame Reinforced by Steel-Plate Concrete Module System

Numerical Analysis of RC Frame Reinforced by Steel-Plate Concrete Module System

Numerical Analysis of RC Frame Reinforced by Steel-Plate Concrete Module System

Design Method for Local Buckling Resistance of Double Steel Plate–Concrete Composite Walls with Stiffening Ribs and Tie Plates

An ordinary double steel plate–concrete composite wall (ODSC wall) is composed of core concrete, the faceplates, and shear connectors such as studs, etc. Based on an ODSC wall, a new type of stiffened double steel plate–concrete composite wall (SDSC wall) is conceived by incorporating additional stiffeners and tie plates on the internal surface, which aims to improve the local stability of the faceplates. In the authors’ previous study, a series of axial compression tests were conducted on the SDSC walls. The SDSC walls in the test showed better mechanical performance, as the presence of stiffeners changed the buckling deformation mode and significantly improved the corresponding local buckling stress and ultimate strength. In this paper, a comprehensive summary of the prior research on SDSC walls is provided, and the effect of the constructive parameters on the local stability is discussed. The results reveal that the modified formula of the critical stress can degrade to the Euler formula when the stiffener-to-stud spacing ratio (i.e., a/B ratio) approaches infinity. What is more, the analysis model is also applicable for DSC walls with enclosed side plates, and the proposed formula can predict the buckling stress of the SDSC walls with different a/B ratios. In addition, according to the analysis of the numerical simulation, a design approach for SDSC walls to prevent local buckling is provided, which is applicable in practical engineering applications.

Mechanical behavior and constitutive relationship of bond interface in steel plate-reinforced shield tunnels

In order to explore the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of the bond interface of steel plate reinforced shield tunnels, a series of uniaxial tensile and uniaxial shear experiments were conducted in this study. The impact of bond interface parameters on the mechanical properties of the reinforced interface was mainly analyzed, including the failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity, average bond strength, and stress-strain relationship of the bond interface. To enable numerical simulation of the mechanical behavior at the bond interface, a stress-strain constitutive relationship equation for the bond interface is established using the least squares method. The main conclusions are as follows: For steel plate-concrete interface bonded with epoxy resin, the shear resistance of the bond interface generally surpasses the tensile resistance under the same interface parameters. Tensile load predominate leads to the cohesive failure of the concrete while the interface layer remains undamaged. In contrast, shear load mainly results in the detachment between the steel plate and the interface layer. The ultimate bearing capacity and bond strength of the interface can be enhanced by decreasing the interface thickness or increasing the interface roughness. Moreover, an expansion bolt can further increase the mechanical property of the bond interface, and the improvement effect intensifies with higher expansion bolt grades. The stress–strain curve of the bond interface can be divided into three stages with elastic stage, softening stage and debond stage. The main difference of stress–strain curve under different bond interface parameters lies in the stage before the softening of the bond interface. The interface stress-strain curve is primarily influenced by the thickness of the bond interface and the grade of expansion bolts, whereas the roughness of the concrete surface has minimal effect.

Flexural Strength and Behavior of Flat Steel Plate-Concrete Composite Beams

Steel rebar’s are widely used as main flexural reinforcement in reinforced concrete beams. It’s quite attractive to explore the use of another type of material for this purpose. This study aims to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams using steel checker plates instead of traditional steel rebar’s.
 In this study fourteen simply supported beams where cast and tested under two-point loads. All the beams had the same steel reinforcement and the dimensions of 2000 mm in length, 250 mm in height and 200mm in width, twelve specimens of these beams were reinforced by horizontal and vertical checker steel plates having total thickness (12mm) with different arrangements and end anchorages. Two of these specimen beams were control beams reinforced with rebar’s. The main variables of the research arrangement, number and anchorage of steel checker plates. Based on the experimental results it found that there is a reduction in crack load and ultimate load of composite steel checker plate beams as compared to reinforced beams. In contrast there was observed increment in ductility of checker steel plate beams compared with beam reinforced with normal rebar’s, while in different arrangements (vertical and horizontal) of steel plates, with same cross sectional area when the number of checker plates increased the load also increased by 14% 12% and 8% also 11%, 23% and 27% for both cracking and ultimate loads respectively. Also the deflection of steel checker plate beams after failure was more than steel bars

Analysis of the flexural performance of Precast Box Girders Reinforced with a combination of Steel-Slab-Concrete Plus Unbonded Prestressing

Due to the serious development of cracks in precast box girders, there is no reliable method to detect the loss of prestress and carry out effective reinforcement of box girders. This paper proposes a reinforcement method of steel plate - concrete with unbonded prestressing, and applies this method to a 30m reinforced concrete prestressed box girder bridge. This paper uses FEA software to carry out a comparative analysis of the load-deflection curve of the reinforced mid-span section by comparing with the conventional bonded steel reinforcement method and the load test data, and through the analysis results, the calculation formula of the flexural load capacity of the steel plate-concrete with unbonded prestressing reinforcement method is derived. The results show that the flexural load carrying capacity of the strengthened mid-span section is significantly improved, and the proposed calculation formulae deviate from the finite element simulation results within 5%, which can be applied to actual projects.

Study on the Seismic Behavior of a Steel Plate–Concrete Composite Shear Wall with a Fishplate Connection

The steel plate–concrete composite shear wall (SPCSW), having been widely applied to several super high-rise buildings, is currently regarded as a new type of lateral load-resisting structure. The SPCSW design does not consider the connection to the surrounding structure, normally envisaged as a buttweld connection, while the fishplate lap connection tends to be applied in construction. To explore the fishplate lap connection to achieve the performance standard of SPCSW, in this paper, an SPCSW with a fishplate connection is modeled using ABAQUS to investigate the hysteretic behavior under constant axial force and horizontal cyclic loads. Through the hysteresis curve and a load–displacement skeleton curve, the effects of fishplate thickness and lap length on its hysteretic behavior are studied. The results show that increasing the fishplate thickness contributes to a slight increase in the bearing capacity and energy dissipation and has little influence on stiffness degradation. When the fishplate thickness is more than half the steel plate thickness, the strength and energy dissipation of an SPCSW with a fishplate connection can reach the level of an SPCSW without a fishplate connection. The bearing capacity and stiffness of the SPCSW increase with the increase in lap length. When the lap length is greater than 50 mm, the strength, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of an SPCSW with a fishplate connection are superior to those without fishplate connections. Finally, engineering suggestions on fishplate connections are put forward.

Study on axial compression performance of double steel plate-concrete composite walls with stiffening ribs and tie plates

Local buckling has a significant effect on the mechanical performance of double steel plate-concrete (DSC) composite walls, which are composed of two faceplates, an infilled concrete core, and connectors between them. In this paper, a new type of DSC composite wall (SDSC) was proposed by incorporating stiffeners and tie plates welded on the internal surface to enhance the local stability of the faceplate. Eight SDSC specimens were designed to investigate the axial compression behavior of this new composite walls. During the tests, the buckling stress and the ultimate strength of these SDSC walls were measured, and the effects of the B/t ratio (i.e., the ratio of stud vertical spacing to faceplate thickness) and the stiffener spacing were analyzed as well. The results demonstrated that as the stiffeners and tie plates completely changed the faceplates’s buckling mode, the buckling stress of the faceplates and the ultimate strength of SDSC walls were obviously increased. It was also concluded that, for the SDSC specimens with the same B/t ratio, decreasing the stiffener spacing would significantly improve the local stability of the steel plates. Based on the test results, numerical models were established to further investigate the compressive behavior of SDSC walls. The influences of the key parameters included the faceplate thickness, and the stiffness of the stud and tie plate were discussed in detail. Theoretical models were finally recommended to estimate the buckling stress, the axial compression stiffness, and the ultimate bearing capacity of SDSC walls, which were effective and accurate in evaluating the axial compression performance of these new composite walls.

Shear performance of single steel-plate concrete composite beams with various transverse reinforcement configurations

Single steel-plate concrete (SSC) composite structure is a novel kind of steel-plate concrete (SC) composite structure consisting of single steel exterior faceplate, concrete core, reinforcing bars and shear connectors. It has the advantages of good mechanical properties and construction efficiency, and shows great application potential in nuclear structures. This paper focuses on shear performance of large-scale SSC composite structure applied in nuclear containment dome. The conventional configuration that the shear rebars and the bottom steel plate are connected by welding will cause much in-site manual work, which becomes a significant obstacle for the application of SSC structures. Indirect connections are designed and tested in this paper with great construction convenience. A series of shear experiment of eleven SSC beams under three-point loading condition was conducted to investigate the influence of parameters including shear span-to-depth ratio, shear reinforcement ratio and the shear reinforcement configurations. The shear failure modes, load–deflection curves, distribution and development of cracks and strains were reported and analyzed. The shear capacity was calculated based on equations provided by design codes including ACI 349–06, AISC 690–18, JEAC 4618–2009, and GB/T 51340–2018 and compared with the experimental results. It is demonstrated that the anchorage connection and J-stud hooking connection, which is much more convenient, are equivalent to the welded connection in terms of shear performance. The shear capacity calculated by the codes tend to be conservative generally, especially for the specimens with low shear span-to-depth ratio.

Experimental study and design of bond behavior in concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST)

Steel plate-concrete (SPC) and concrete filled steel tube (CFST) push out test specimens are conducted to study the nature of the bond behavior between the steel tube and concrete and the according contribution of each component (chemical adhesion, micro-interlocking and friction). A total of 10 SPC specimens considering lateral normal pressure applied on the concrete and 18 circular CFST specimens with reversed loading have been carried out, where the surface roughness of the steel tube and the length of the specimens have been considered as variables. The chemical adhesion contributions are obtained through the SPC specimens without normal pressures. The micro-interlocking and friction can be calculated through both the SPC and CFST specimens. The micro-interlocking coefficient concept has been proposed and determined together with the friction coefficient through SPC test specimens with normal pressures. Both the micro-interlocking and friction component contribution to the bond behavior can be determined through the steel tube hoop strain from the CFST specimens and the obtained coefficient accordingly. The bond mechanism of CFST specimen has been systematically and quantitively explained by analyzing the full-history developments of the chemical adhesion, micro-interlocking and friction components. A bond-slip constitutive model considering both the physical significance and prediction accuracy has been proposed and verified, which may promote refined numerical analysis.

Mechanical Performance Test and Numerical Simulation Analysis of Building Steel Plate and Concrete Composite Structure.

The study aims to continuously improve the level of the construction industry, such as the improvement of construction capacity and efficiency and reduction of the project cost and construction period, and find a specific way to improve the development of the construction industry. First, the study analyzes the research status of mechanical properties of horizontal joints, vertical joints, and the overall structure of worldwide prefabricated buildings. Next, the built-in steel fabricated concrete shear wall model is established. Moreover, the quasi-static experimental analysis is conducted on the joints of the fabricated shear wall with built-in section steel. The finite element software is used to analyze the numerical simulation test of the new built-in shear wall. According to the relevant test parameters, the finite element model is constructed, and the parameters are set. Finally, the shear wall model is established and tested by a simulation experiment, and the simulation results are compared with the numerical simulation results. The final results show that the proposed connection mode of the reinforced skeleton and new fabricated joints improves the stability of prefabricated buildings. The use of the quasi-static test to test the relevant performance parameters has a short calculation time, high efficiency, and high parameter optimization accuracy. It can better simulate the actual working conditions and the actual stress-strain and damage failure conditions. Moreover, the conclusion is drawn that the shear wall structure with steel plate concrete has good ductility and deformation capacity. The study has a certain reference significance for the construction optimization of steel plate concrete prefabricated buildings and related research in the future.

Experimental study on shear performance of steel shell-concrete composite structure in immersed tunnel

Based on local arrangement details in the top slab of Shenzhen–Zhongshan Link immersed tunnel, steel shell-concrete (SSC) composite specimens with 1:2.5 scale were prepared and tested under shear, to investigate the effects of transverse T-shape stiffeners on shear capacities, crack development, and relative slip. Finite element models were also built and verified by the experimental results. For the specimen without transverse stiffeners, the failure at the steel plate-concrete interface occurred firstly, and then top and bottom steel plates were separated from the compression concrete core. While for the specimen with transverse T-shape stiffeners, the concrete cracks developed diagonally from the flange edge of T stiffeners near the bottom steel plate in sequence, and the corresponding tension field in the steel web enlarged gradually until full web yielding, as the shear force increased. Compared to specimens without transverse stiffeners, when transverse T stiffeners were placed in SSC composite specimens, the shear force at initial cracking was much smaller, but the yielding and ultimate shear capacities were increased by 12.2% and 14.6%, respectively. Although earlier cracking induced, the transverse T stiffeners were beneficial to improve shear capacities of SSC composite structures. The maximum relative slip at steel plate-concrete interface of specimens with and without transverse T stiffeners were 0.28 mm and 0.62 mm before the structure reaching the yielding stage, respectively, indicating that transverse T stiffeners could reduce the relative slip and separation between steel plates and concrete core, ensuring the effective composite action of steel plates and filled concrete. T stiffeners could improve the compressive behavior of concrete. With transverse T stiffeners placed in SSC composite structure, and the shear force could be resisted by both the diagonal compressive core in concrete and the arch system formed with the T stiffeners.

Investigation on Low-Frequency Micro-Vibration Model of Air Spring With Auxiliary Chamber for Steel Plate Concrete Composite Structures

Steel plate concrete composite (SPCC) structure plays an essential role in modular construction, which has been widely applied in the floating foundation vibration reduction system. This study proposed a basis for designing an SPCC floating foundation vibration reduction system with an air spring as the main vibration isolation element. Based on the engineering thermodynamics and aerodynamics theories, the non-linear state equations and dynamic equations of each component of the air spring with auxiliary chamber were established, respectively. According to the operational characteristics of the air spring, the equations were linearized by using the small deviation linearization method under the condition of small amplitude, and the linearized model of the dynamic stiffness of the air spring with an auxiliary chamber was therefore proposed. The reliability of the proposed method was proved by a floating foundation vibration test, which was performed in a solid-state quantum laboratory. The constitutive equations of an air spring model and an SPCC floating foundation model were incorporated into the STERA_3D software. The simulation results showed good agreement with the low-frequency micro-vibration region test data.

Application of CSPC composite shear wall equipped with tension-and-compression damper in multi-storey structures

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and application of concrete composite shear walls with corrugated steel sheet equipped with damper system in a variety of real structures of 4, 8 and 15 storey under seismic load. In the studied structures, the seismic load-bearing system includes the dual system of special moment- resisting frame in combination with the mentioned concrete composite shear wall. To achieve the objectives of the present study, the replaceable vertically corrugated steel plate-concrete (CSPC) composite shear wall (i.e. NEW_V) and the replaceable horizontally CSPC composite shear wall (i.e. NEW_H) equipped with replaceable dampers are simulated utilizing ABAQUS software. In order to gain the sections and profiles of the dual system employed in ABAQUS software, ETABS software is applied for modeling and designing in accordance with the required standards. First, to ensure the conformity of the numerical model with the laboratory model of the mentioned shear walls, validation is accomplished. Criteria such as displacement, stiffness, shear capacity and energy dissipation are compared for validation. Based on the validation results, the outputs of the numerical models of the present study are in good agreement with the laboratory results. After performing the necessary simulation and modeling, the proposed scheme is implemented on the proposed structures. It can be said that structures equipped with damper had better performance (between 25% and 35%) than structures without damper (for both NEW_V and NEW_V specimens). The reason is the creation of less base shear in structures equipped with damper under seismic force. Thus, these structures have good energy absorption and ductility. Also, the stiffness of these structures is not significantly reduced.

Numerical Study on Minimum Shear Connection Ratio of Tie-Bars in Steel Plate–Concrete Composite Beams Subjected to Out-of-Plane Cyclic Loading

The failure modes of tie-bars under monotonic loading and cyclic loading are ductility and brittleness, respectively. They can significantly affect the design for tie-bars in a steel plate–concrete (SC) composite structure. A 3D finite element model of a SC composite beam was developed and verified through a quasi-static test. Two rules on the interfacial shear distribution were deduced and verified. Then, a total of 188 finite element models were developed to investigate the minimum shear connection ratio of tie-bars in SC composite beams, which can ensure the sufficient energy dissipation capacity of a SC composite beam under out-of-plane cyclic loading. The influences of the shear connection ratio, shear span versus depth ratio, stiffness, and number of tie-bars on the seismic behavior of a SC composite beam were investigated. Finally, a design method for tie-bars in the SC composite beam under out-of-plane cyclic loading was proposed.

Experimental study on the buckling behavior of double steel plate concrete composite slabs with stiffening ribs and tie plates

Double steel plate concrete (DSC) composite slabs consist of two outside steel plates and a concrete core that are connected by welded studs or cross tie bars. If weak restraints are designed for the interface between the steel plates and concrete core, the surface steel plate of the DSC slabs may suffer local buckling when subjected to a compressive load. In this paper, a new type of DSC slab with stiffening ribs and tie plates (SDSC slab) is proposed to improve the stability of surface steel plates. Two groups of bending tests are carried out to investigate the buckling behavior of both SDSC slabs and ordinary DSC slabs (ODSC slabs). Furthermore, the influence of the B/t ratio, that is, the ratio between the stud spacing and the steel plate thickness, is intensively analyzed. The experimental results reveal that compared with that of the ODSC slabs, the buckling behavior of steel plates in the SDSC slabs is delayed or even prevented owing to the additional stiffening ribs and tie plates. Thus, the bending capacity and ductility of SDSC slabs are both enhanced. According to the test results, calculation formulas are derived to predict the bending capacity of the ODSC slabs and SDSC slabs, respectively. In addition, design models for buckling analysis are proposed to determine the buckling stress and critical B/t ratio for different types of DSC slabs. The accuracy of the theoretical methods is validated against the test data, and two examples are provided in detail to illustrate the design process of the steel plate in SDSC slabs.

Formulation and calibration of two-dimensional constitutive models for composite structures based on panel tests

Steel Plate Concrete (SC) composite members have been widely adopted because of its cost-efficiency and enhanced structural behavior. While researchers have attempted to study its in-plane shear behavior in the past twenty years, very limited number of large-scale pure shear tests were performed due to the challenge of experimental set-up and the availability of facilities. In this paper, a series of uniaxial loading tests and two full-scale pure shear panel tests of SC members were reported, on which the “mechanics-based Membrane Model of SC elements (MM-SC)” is developed. The MM-SC model is based on the fixed-angle crack formulation and the smeared-crack formulation, in which the experimental-based uniaxial constitutive models are implemented, considering the local buckling of faceplate, the tension stiffening of steel plate, the strength degradation of cracked concrete and the confinement effect of concrete. The proposed MM-SC model is subsequently incorporated into the object-oriented software OpenSEES. The simulation results of proposed model well predict the SC test observations in terms of critical branch points and structural behaviors, including initial stiffness, cracking strength, post-crack stiffness, yield strength, maximum strength, and failure modes.