Ultimate strength behaviour of steel–concrete–steel sandwich plate under concentrated loads

• We develop steel–concrete composite ice-resistant wall for arctic offshore structure.
• Experimental studies of SCS sandwich plates under concentrated loads are presented.
• Top steel skin plate improves ultimate strength behaviour of SCS sandwich plate.
• SCS sandwich plate exhibits two peak resistances due to tension membrane effect.
• We develop new design approach to predict ultimate resistances of ice-resistant wall.

This paper studied ultimate strength behaviour of Steel–Concrete–Steel (SCS) sandwich plate under concentrated loads. Eight square SCS sandwich plates were simply supported and tested to failure under concentrated loads. The investigated parameters included strength of the core material, thickness of the steel skin plate, content of the steel fibre in the core, size of the loading area, and different type of the fibre. Test results showed that SCS sandwich plate exhibited two peak resistances that benefited from the tension membrane action of the top steel skin, which behaved differently from reinforced concrete structures. The influences of different parameters on ultimate strength behaviours of SCS sandwich plate have been analysed and discussed. On the basis of the experimental studies, analysis and discussions, theoretical models were developed to predict the ultimate resistances of the SCS sandwich plate under concentrated loads. The developed models considered the punching shear resistance of the top steel skin plate, modified the resistance contributed by the headed studs, adopting proper critical perimeter for the punching cone, and developing formulae for the second peak resistance. The analytical models were observed predicting well the ultimate resistances of the SCS sandwich plates.