Composite floor system with CFS trussed beams, concrete slab and innovative shear connectors

Abstract Steel and concrete floor systems are widely applied for buildings and provide excellent structural response, optimized material consumption, reduced beam height, and improved bending strength and stiffness capacity. In recent years, many experimental investigations concerned with new alternatives addressed to efficient interaction between steel and concrete structures have been reported. In this context, the present study aims at investigating the behavior of a structural composite floor system composed of light cold-formed steel trusses and a partially pre-cast concrete slab, as well as developing an innovative solution for shear connectors. The referred to shear connector consists of Thin-Walled Perfobond (TWP) ribs, composed of 1.25mm thick cold-formed plates crossed by 4.2 mm reinforcing steel bars and connected to the truss chord by self-drilling screws. Preliminary results, based on experimental full-scale testing, indicate that the performance of the composite truss is adequate in terms of ultimate load and deformation capacity. Additionally, the investigation showed that traditional analytical solution is in good agreement with experimental results