Experimental Studies on Steel-Concrete Composite Beams in Bending

The use of composite structures is increasingly present in civil construction works. The steel section located mainly in the tension region and a concrete section, located in the compression cross sectional area, both connected by metal devices known as shear connectors. The main functions of these connectors are to allow for the joint behavior of the beam-slab, to restrict longitudinal slipping and uplifting at the elements interface and to take shear forces. Experimental studies were carried out to study the behavior of steel-concrete composite beam with different spacing of shear connectors subjected to pure bending. Two point loading experimental setup were used for the study of composite beams. The behavior of beams with different shear connector spacing, 75mm, 100mm, 125mm and 150mm were analyzed under pure bending up to the failure. From the test results it is observed that the beam with 125mm spaced shear connector having more strength and toughness under loading. This paper presents a study of the behavior of steel-concrete composite beams and presenting the most effective section from the results. A comparison with the conventional concrete also carried out with composite construction.