Stud shear connectors for composite beams

The published results of push tests were analysed statistically in order to determine the main parameters that affect the strength of stud shear connectors. The results of the statistical analysis were used to design a series of seventy-nine push tests. A finite element analysis program was developed which allowed for the interaction between the tensile and compressive failure of concrete and hence predicted the variation in the bearing strength of concrete prisms of varying size and with varying amounts of lateral restraint, when subjected to concentrated loads. A combination of-theoretical and empirical analyses was used to determine the load at which the stud broke, the strength of concrete prisms which were subjected to patch loads of varying size and eccentricity and hence the strength of concrete slabs, the effect of lateral forces and transverse reinforcement on the strength of the stud and the slab, the-strength of shear connections in which the reinforcement is looped around the stud and the load-slip curve for a stud shear connection