Behaviour and design of stud shear connectors in composite steel-concrete beams

This paper outlines the problem concerning the effects of various issues on the behaviour of stud shear connectors for composite steel-concrete beams. An accurate finite element model has been developed to investigate the behaviour of the shear connection in composite steel-concrete beams for both solid and profiled slabs. Based on comparisons between the results obtained from finite element models and available experiments, it is observed that they are in good agreement. All the failure modes are accurately predicted by the finite element model. When steel fibres are included, the stiffness and ductility for both solid and profiled slabs improved. When elevated temperatures are considered, the ultimate load of a solid slab is higher than a profiled slab. However, when exposed to elevated temperature, profiled slabs can withstand higher ultimate loads at ambient temperature when compared with solid slabs. When long-term analysis is considered, the slip caused by the shear connectors is only noticeable for the first 400 days. Lastly, it is indicated that the strength and the load-slip behaviour are greatly influenced by the strain regimes existent in the concrete element