Experimental and theorical analysis of slab effect on the force transfer strength of steel beam to concrete filled columns connection

Author(s)

Rômulo da Silva Farias

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2008-05-07

Examining board members

Ana Lucia Homce de Cresce El Debs; Maximiliano Malite; João Alberto Venegas Requena

• Advisor: Ana Lucia Homce de Cresce El Debs

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to analyze the contribution of the concrete slab for the behavior of a steel beam-concrete filled composite column connection through an experimental program and also a numerical modeling. The considered connection was constituted of steel beams connected to a concrete filled tubular column of rectangular cross section by means of passing bars. This type of connection was studied before through an experimental analysis of connections that did not include the slab, resulting in failure of the passing bars. In the present study, the presence of the slab is considered, turning the connection a composite one. The studied model is more representative of the real structure, and also improves the resistance and the stiffness of the connection, turning the behavior more ductile. Three specimens were tested, where the studied variable was the type of shear connector, angles or stud-bolts, and one specimen without connectors as a reference. The obtained results showed that the failure was determined by the slab, associated to the yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement, without affecting the beam column connection. The finite element based software DIANA® was used to the numerical analysis. The numerical models were developed and calibrated by the experimental results, producing a good agreement. Finally, a parametric analysis was done, varying the slab longitudinal reinforcement and the concrete strength in order to better understand the influence of these parameters in the behavior of the studied connection. (AU)