Flexural behaviour of a cold-formed steel-concrete composite beam with channel type shear connector – an experimental and analytical study

Steel-concrete composite structures are widely used in the current construction of bridges and multi-storey buildings. The effect of shear connectors in a cold-formed steel-composite beam was studied under flexure. The number of channel connectors in the specimen was varied and the same was compared with a specimen without shear connectors. The performance and failure of cold-formed steel-composite beams were then studied. The presence of shear connectors in the tension zone prevents the formation of cracks which are the major cause of failure in a beam subjected to bending. The load carrying capacity is greater in a composite beam and an increase in the number of channel connectors from one to five increases the load-carrying capacity by 60 % as compared to a specimen without a connector. A composite beam with five connectors is more ductile, with a ductility factor of 14. The Composite beams were also analysed using the finite element software ANSYS and were found to have good agreement with the experimental results.