Finite element modelling of steel-concrete composite beams with profiled steel sheeting

Steel-concrete composite beams have been widely used in modern construction industry, where headed shear stud connectors are commonly welded through profiled steel sheeting to ensure full/partial composite action between the beam and the composite slab. For such composite beams, there are complex interactions between different components, leading to different failure modes. Finite element (FE) analysis could be used to understand the fundamental behaviour of such beams. But previous FE models have adopted various assumptions to simplify the modelling of some complex interactions such as the interaction between the shear studs and concrete. Accordingly, those FE models have limitations to capture certain types of failure modes. Meanwhile, the actual forces carried by the studs and profiled steel sheeting have not been quantitatively determined. In this context, this paper aims to develop a detailed FE model for composite beams with profiled steel sheeting by considering realistic interaction between different components, fracture of the shear studs and profiled steel sheeting, as well as tensile and compressive damage in concrete. The developed FE model can satisfactorily predict the full-range load-deformation curves of the composite beams and the shear force-slip relationship of the embedded shear studs. The predictions agree very well with a wide range of test data reported in the literature.