Elemental bending test and modeling of shear bond in composite slabs

Abstract

This paper discusses a new experimental bending test and shear bond modeling of steel deck reinforced concrete (composite) slabs. The objective of experimental work is to develop a new elemental bending test method for evaluating the performance and behavior of composite slabs, and also for determining the shear interaction property for use in numerical analysis. The analytical study is conducted to determine whether data from the small scale tests can be used in the present shear bond (m-k) and Partial Shear Connection (PSC) methods, to predict the strength of the actual slabs, to use the same test data for input in numerical analysis, and to improve the existing PSC design procedure. The results of the study demonstrate that the elemental bending test of composite slab using trapezoidal shape steel deck is feasible as a replacement for the full-size test utilizing the same steel deck. Data from the elemental bending test can be used not only in the existing analytical methods but also in the numerical analysis, thus eliminating the need for separate push off type tests. The improved PSC design procedure is found to be comparable with the m-k method.