Spacing and orientation of stud shear connectors in steel – concrete composite constructions

Abstract

In steel concrete composite constructions, the behavior of mechanical shear connectors plays a vital role in establishing composite action. The behavior of mechanical shear connectors can be well studied by push – out tests. A modified push out test as developed by Cem Topkaya, et al.,, is adopted in this study after a small modification. Headed stud connectors are the most frequently used connectors which is categorized as flexible type shear connectors. In most of the real construction mainly in bridges and multistoried structures the 19mm dia headed shear connectors were extensively used. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the spacing pattern and orientation of 19mm dia stud for the composite member. Experimental investigations were made to identify the impact of orientation and spacing of stud in resisting horizontal shear. Numerical modelling using Abaqus 6.13 was developed in this study to validate the obtained experimental results. The stud behavior which was observed in various spacing and orientations in the experiments is also modelled in the numerical simulations.