Design behaviour of cold-formed steel encased composite beam with protruded link

Abstract

Composite action of a structural member can be obtained with the combination of concrete and steel. This composite action is achieved through the use of a shear connector. The shear connector resists the horizontal shear by producing vertical interlocking between the concrete slab and steel beam, as a single composite unit. Typical composite beam is consist of I-beam in combination with concrete slab by the aid of a shear connector called stud. However, this study intends to investigate the design behaviour of a link protruded into the concrete slab to act as the shear connector. The moment and shear capacities of the composite cold-formed encased steel beam with protruded link are obtained and compared with the conventional reinforced concrete beam and composite steel beam. A calculation with several different parameters were compared to determine the influence of the parameter that affected the resistance of the moment and shear capacities of the beam. Design calculation for the reinforced concrete beam is carried out using EN1992 (EC2) while the design calculation for the composite steel beam and composite cold-formed encased steel beam with protruded link are carried out using EN1993 (EC3) and EN1994 (EC4) respectively. It has been found that composite cold-formed encased steel beam with protruded link can increase the value of moment and shear capacities compared to the reinforced concrete beam and composite steel beam. In conclusion, this study shows that the effect of the protruded link can enhance the moment and shear capacities of the composite coldformed encased steel beam.