Longitudinal shear strength design of composite slabs by full-scale FE modelling considering the embossments

Abstract Slabs with cast-in-place steel formwork are composite structural elements composed of concrete and steel. The horizontal shear failure mode is the most common in composite slabs based on numerous experimental studies. This failure mode consists of loss of adherence and mechanical contact at the interface of the composite system and often occurs before the system reaches its full bending capacity. Thus, the design of this constructive system is determined by the value of the longitudinal shear strength, which can be computed by the semi-empirical so-called traditional m-k method based on the four-point bending test proposed by several standards. One of the most known factors to influence the longitudinal shear strength is the geometry of embossments present in the steel work. Calibrated computational simulation using the finite element method can be an alternative way to simulate this type of test. The present work modified and adapted a methodology explicitly including the geometry of embossments in the analysis in order to use materials and products with characteristics available to structural engineers in Brazil and used this methodology to derive m-k coefficients. This is being made with the objective of numerically simulating the effect of relevant parameters for determining the longitudinal shear strength at the concrete-steel interface of composite slabs. Force versus slip, force versus displacement graphs were obtained and the m-k coefficient values found were compared with those of other authors in the literature. The simulations presented values consistent with the literature and in relation to the rupture mode by longitudinal shear, the numerical simulations performed presented ultimate strengths with goodness-of-fit measured by the conventional coefficient of determination, reaching a good value for the semi-empirical relation using the results of the finite element data