Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Constructional Steel Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcsr

Nonlinear analysis of composite beams subjected to combined flexure

and torsion
E.L. Tan a, , B. Uy b,1
a

School of Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797 Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia

School of Engineering, Civionics Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797 Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia

article

info

Article history:
Received 7 September 2010
Accepted 24 December 2010
Keywords:
Composite steelconcrete beams
Partial shear connection
Flexure
Torsion
Curved beams
Finite element method

abstract
There are situations in which a composite steelconcrete beam is subjected to torsion, such as members
that are curved in plan or straight edge beams in buildings or bridges. The composite action of the steel
beam and concrete slab in torsion is usually ignored in design codes of practice. Therefore, a threedimensional (3D) finite element model is introduced in this paper to simulate composite steelconcrete
beams subjected to combined flexure and torsion with the influence of partial shear connection using a
commercial software ABAQUS. Brick and truss elements were used with the incorporation of nonlinear
material characteristics and geometric behaviour in the model. This is coupled with an extensive
parametric study using the validated finite element model using different parameters such as the span
length and the level of shear connection. From the analytical study, a new phenomenon has been
uncovered, which was validated by the test observation. This phenomenon called torsion induced vertical
slip is an important issue, which would make the assumption plane sections remain plane invalid. In
addition, difference in span length greatly affected the flexuretorsion interaction relationship of the
composite steelconcrete beams, whilst the partial shear connection did not affect the relationship.
Design models for readers to take away at the end of this paper are also proposed.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Composite steelconcrete construction has been widely used
around the world. It is commonly used in modern buildings and
highways due to their advantages over traditional reinforced concrete construction. However, due to the complexity of the geometry of modern structures, some of the supporting beams such
as edge or curved in plan members are subjected to combined
loading. One such combination of loading is the application of
combined flexure and torsion. These effects of combined flexure
and torsion are not currently addressed in the Australian Standards AS 2327.1 [1] or other international standards on composite steelconcrete construction such as the Eurocode 4 [2] or the
American Institute of Steel Construction [3]. Moreover, the problem becomes increasingly complex when partial shear connection
is introduced to the design.
To avoid the huge cost and significant testing time required for
conducting full-scale experiments, researchers have often involved

Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 4736 0403; fax: +61 2 4736 0137.
E-mail addresses: e.tan@uws.edu.au, taneeloon@gmail.com (E.L. Tan),
b.uy@uws.edu.au (B. Uy).
1 Tel.: +61 2 4736 0228; fax: +61 2 4736 0137.
0143-974X/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jcsr.2010.12.015

finite element or numerical modelling. Yam and Chapman [4] conducted a series of numerical analyses to investigate the inelastic
behaviour of composite steelconcrete beams. They produced a
predictorcorrector method of systematic numerical integration.
However, several assumptions were needed such as the strain
distribution have to be linear over the depth of the composite steelconcrete beams, the stressstrain curves for steel were
the same for both tensile and compressive regions, the concrete
and steel have equal curvatures at all points along the composite steelconcrete beams and there was no separation between the
concrete and the steel.
Using the elemental formulation from the empirical equation
of [4,5] modelled their composite steelconcrete beams using
ABAQUS with each shear connector as a 2D truss element with
two end nodes and three translational degrees of freedom at both
sides. Shell elements were used for the concrete slab and steel
beam. Later, Thevendran et al. [6] also used ABAQUS to develop a
3D finite element model to predict the behaviour of curved in plan
composite steelconcrete beams. The concrete slab and steel beam
were modelled by thin shell elements, whilst the shear connectors
were modelled by rigid beam elements. However, full composite
action at the concretesteel interface was assumed.
The most recent research was carried out by Erkmen and
Bradford [7] whom further extended a 3D elastic total Lagrangian

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

791

Fig. 1. Test setup for (a) concrete slab, (b) steel beam, (c) straight and (d) curved in plan composite steelconcrete beam.

formulation from Pi et al. [8] for the numerical analysis of curved

in plan composite steelconcrete beams. Geometric nonlinearities
were considered in the derivation of the strain expressions.
The partial interaction at the concretesteel interface in the
tangential and radial directions due to the flexible shear connectors
was incorporated in the formulation. However, only the elastic
behaviour of the beams was captured by the numerical analysis,
whilst the inelastic behaviour of the beams was different from the
test results.
Therefore, due to the lack of research findings on the inelastic
and ultimate load behaviour of composite steelconcrete beams
subjected to combined flexure and torsion, this paper proposes a
3D finite element model which also incorporates the influence of
partial shear connection.
2. Previous experimental studies
Two full-scale experimental series have been previously carried
out by the authors on curved in plan and straight composite
steelconcrete beams, straight steel beams and straight concrete
slabs to investigate their behaviour and ultimate failure loads
when they were subjected to combined flexure and torsion in
[9,10] respectively.
From [9], six simply supported straight composite steel
concrete beams CBF-1, 2, 3 and CBP-1, 2, 3, three straight steel
beams SB-1, 2, 3 and three straight concrete slabs CS-1, 2, 3 were
tested under combined flexure and torsion. From [10], eight simply
supported curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams CCBF1, 2, 3, 4 and CCBP-1, 2, 3, 4 were tested under combined flexure
and torsion. CBF and CCBF beams were designed with full shear
connection (FSC), whilst CBP and CCBP beams were designed with
a 50% degree of shear connection or partial shear connection (PSC).
The span lengths were 4 and 6 m for straight and curved in plane
beams respectively. All the steel beams adopted were universal
beam section of 200UB29.8 and the concrete slab thickness was
120 mm with a width of 500 mm. Nineteen (19) mm nominal
diameter headed shear studs were used as the shear connectors.
Their individual test setups are shown in Fig. 1(ad).

3. Finite element model

This section describes the development of the 3D finite element
model capable of simulating composite steelconcrete beams
subjected to combined flexure and torsion with the influence of
partial shear connection using the software ABAQUS. The model
also presented additional ability to consider the torsional failure
mode of the beams.
3.1. Concrete property modelling
One of the principal components of composite steelconcrete
beams is the concrete slab. The average compressive and tensile
strengths of the concrete can be obtained from the concrete
cylinder compression and splitting tests according to Australian
Standards AS 1012.9 [11] and AS 1012.10 [12] respectively.
However, in order to input the full stressstrain curves of the
concrete, a property expression is required.
For concrete in compression, the concrete stressstrain curve
was expressed by the formulae proposed by Carreira and Chu [13].
The concrete stress in compression was assumed to be linear up
to 40% of its maximum compressive stress. Beyond this point, the
concrete stress was represented as a function of strain as shown in
Eq. (1).
fc c /c

c =

1 + c /c

(1)

c = concrete compressive strain

c = 0.002 = concrete strain corresponding to fc
fc = characteristic compressive strength of the concrete
c = concrete compressive stress

= (fc /32.4)3 +1.55 = parameter used for the stressstrain curve

For concrete in tension, two different material properties were
needed for detecting the torsional failure mode. The concrete slab
was divided into four layers. The bottom three layers used the
expression where the tensile stress was assumed to vary linearly
with an increase in the tensile strain up to 10% of its concrete

792

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

Fig. 2. Stressstrain curves for materials in finite element model.

compressive strength. After the concrete cracked, the tensile stress

decreased linearly to zero and the concrete strain at zero stress
was taken to be 10 times the strain at failure. This assumption
allowed for the continuity of the analysis even though the bottom
concrete layers have cracked in tension. For the top layer, a simple
modification was made where instead of having the concrete
tensile stress to decrease linearly to zero, it was assumed to drop
to zero immediately. The reason for this was to detect torsional
failure of the concrete slab. Fig. 2 illustrates the concrete property
modelling for the concrete slab in ABAQUS.

The material properties for the steel beam, reinforcing steel

and shear connectors are the other principal components of the
composite steelconcrete beams. The stressstrain curves for all
structural steel were obtained from the steel tensile tests according
to Australian Standards AS 1391 [14]. In the event where material
tests were not available, the model proposed by Loh et al. [15] was
used. The curve is elastic initially after which yielding and strain
hardening developed as shown in Fig. 2.

For the concrete slab and steel beam interface, a surface-based

contact was used. The concrete surface was taken as the master
surface and the steel surface as the slave surface. A hard contact
relationship was used to minimise the penetration of the slave
nodes and prevent the transfer of tensile stress across the interface
with a frictionless contact property.
For the concrete slab and reinforcing steel interface, an embedded constraint method was used to constrain the reinforcing steel
nodes to the interpolated values of the degrees of freedom of the
host element, which in this case was the concrete slab.
For the concrete slab and shear connector interface, an
embedded constraint method was used. The host element was the
concrete slab, whilst only the top regions of the shear connectors
were embedded.
For the steel beam and shear connector interface, a surfacebased tie constraint was used to constrain each of the nodes on the
shear connectors bottom surface to have the same translational
and rotational motions as well as all other active freedom as the
point on the steel beam surface to which it was closest. Fig. 3
summarises all the contact interactions for the finite element
modelling.

3.3. Contact interactions

3.4. Boundary conditions

Contact interactions are another important aspect for the finite

element modelling of composite steelconcrete beam models.
Improper definition of contact interactions may introduce nonphysical influences into the simulation especially where there are
more than two components being considered such as the concrete
slab, steel beam, reinforcing steel and shear connectors.

Since the test specimens were designed as simply supported

and the concrete slab have to be restrained from twisting at both
ends, prescribed boundary conditions have been assigned at each
support. For the simply supported boundary conditions, one end
support of the steel beam was prescribed to have their translational
displacements at the x, y and z-axes restrained and the other end

3.2. Structural steel property modelling

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

793

For the twisting restraint conditions, both end supports of the

concrete slab were restrained of its translational displacements
at the y and z-axes to prevent twisting. Fig. 3 summarises the
boundary conditions in the finite element model.
3.5. Finite element type and mesh
For the concrete slab, steel beam and shear connectors,
3D eight node elements (C3D8R) with linear approximation of
displacement, reduced integration with hourglass control, eight
nodes and three translational degrees of freedom were used. Stress
at various points throughout the thickness of the element has been
provided at each integration node.
For the reinforcing steel, 3D truss elements (T3D2) with linear
approximation of displacement, two nodes and three translational
degrees of freedom were used. No moment or forces perpendicular
to the centreline were supported for the truss element, as constant
stress was assumed throughout the element.
4. Validation of the finite element model
4.1. Loaddeflection response

Fig. 3. Contact interactions and boundary conditions for the finite element
modelling.

support with only their translational displacements at the y and

z-axes restrained.

In order to validate the proposed model, comparison with

experimental results was made. Some comparison examples of
the loaddeflection responses that are plotted in this paper
included CS-2, SB-2, CBF-2, CBP-2, CCBF-3 and CCBP-3 in Fig. 4(af)
respectively. From the comparison between the model and test
results from [9,10], there was good agreement in terms of the
loaddeflection responses over their entire loading profiles until

Fig. 4. Comparison between models and tests for (a) CS-2, (b) SB-2, (c) CBF-2, (d) CBP-2, (e) CCBF-3 and (f) CCBP-3.

794

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

Fig. 5. Maximum principal stress contour for (a) CBP-3 and (b) CCBP-3.

failure. Their initial stiffness, ultimate flexural and torsional

moment capacities were in close agreement with their respective
finite element models. For the beams that were governed by
torsional failure, their analyses were able to predict their behaviour
with reasonable accuracy. Even for the beams under pure flexure,
their ductility and post-failure path were also captured in the
models.
4.2. Ultimate strength
For the ultimate strength, Table 1 presents a summary of the
numerical comparisons between the model and test results in
terms of the flexural and torsional moment capacities. The average
ratios for accuracy were close to one indicating good prediction in
terms of flexural and torsional strengths. For the curved in plan
beams with a low level of curvature, their primary failure modes
were governed by the flexural failure was well predicted. The
effects of partial shear connection were shown in the models with
the difference in their ultimate flexural strengths for the composite
steelconcrete beams CBF-1 and CBP-1. Longitudinal interface
slip was observed from the models for both full and partial
shear connection composite steelconcrete beams. Moreover, the
concrete stress failure pattern from the experiments was also
modelled by the models as shown for CBP-3 and CCBP-3 in Fig. 5(a)
and (b) respectively.
4.3. Torsion induced vertical slip
Most importantly, the difference in the twist angles for the
concrete slab and steel beam has been shown in the finite element
model as illustrated in Fig. 6(a). This difference in twisting resulted
in two different curvatures for the concrete slab and steel beam
as illustrated by the measured strain distributions from CCBP-4 as
shown in Fig. 6(b). The authors have named this effect as torsion
induced vertical slip as illustrated in Fig. 7. Due to this torsion
induced vertical slip, the assumption where plane sections remain
plane is sometime not valid for the composite steelconcrete
beams subjected to torsion.

Fig. 6. (a) Different twist angles at concretesteel interface and steel beam and
(b) strain distribution at mid-span for CCBP-4.

5. Parametric study
5.1. Beam sizing selection
A parametric study was conducted using the validated finite
element model for the 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 m span lengths with 50%
and 100% levels of shear connection for both straight and curved
in plan composite steelconcrete beams subjected to combined
flexure and torsion. The beam selection for the study was based
on a typical arrangement of a 3 by 3-bay storey frame. The
beams were assumed to be primary beams and their span lengths
were taken as the designated span lengths. Uniformly distributed
office loading was assumed as 3 kN/m2 according to Australian
Standards AS/NZS 1170.1 [16] with an additional superimposed
dead load of 1 kN/m2 . The rigid plastic analysis method was
used to determine the beam section as summarised in Table 2.
Serviceability limit state checks for the deflection, vibration and
crack control were also undertaken as part of the design.
5.2. Effects of partial shear connection
From Table 1, the torsional strengths of both straight and
curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams were similar for
full and partial shear connection designs. The lower levels of shear
connection did not greatly affect the torsional strength of the
composite steelconcrete beams. In terms of flexural strength,
it was common that a full shear connection design achieved a
higher flexural strength than the partial shear connection design.
In addition, the difference in the ultimate flexural strength was
19% for the 6 m span length and decreased to 2% for the 14 m
span length for the straight composite steelconcrete beams. For
the curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams, the flexural
strengths for a full shear connection design with 6 and 8 m span
lengths were higher than the set of partial shear connection design.
However, this trend was the opposite for the 10, 12 and 14 m span
lengths due to premature lateral torsional web buckling of the steel
beams as illustrated in Fig. 8.

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

795

Table 1
Comparison table in terms of ultimate strengths.
Beam

CBF-1
CBF-2
CBF-3
CBP-1
CBP-2
CBP-3
SB-1
SB-2
SB-3
CS-1
CS-2
CS-3
CCBF-1
CCBF-2
CCBF-3
CCBF-4
CCBP-1
CCBP-2
CCBP-3
CCBP-4

B (%)

100
100
100
50
50
50
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
100
100
100
100
50
50
50
50

Ultimate flexural moment (kN m)

Ultimate torsional moment (kN m)

Test

Model

Ratio (Model/Test)

Test

Model

Ratio (model/test)

220
214
197
188
194
177
108
39
22
19
21
21
207
155
107
72
182
171
116
82

218
198
193
186
193
159
114
29
26
17
17
17
216
162
107
77
198
170
129
77

0.99
0.93
0.98
0.99
0.99
0.90
1.06
0.74
1.18
0.89
0.81
0.81
1.04
1.05
1.00
1.07
1.09
0.99
1.11
0.94

N/A
17
28
N/A
16
24
N/A
3.3
3.0
N/A
1.6
1.9
33
24
24
24
29
25
28
28

N/A
15
25
N/A
14
20
N/A
2.1
3.4
N/A
1.2
2.2
33
26
24
26
29
27
31
26

N/A
0.88
0.89
N/A
0.88
0.83
N/A
0.64
1.13
N/A
0.75
1.16
1.00
1.08
1.00
1.08
1.00
1.08
1.11
0.93

Avg.

0.98

0.97

Std. dev.

0.11

0.15

Fig. 7. Torsion induced vertical slip.

From Fig. 9(a), the strength ratio interaction relationships for

the straight composite steelconcrete beams are similar for both
full and partial shear connection design beams. This indicates that
the rate of increase and decrease of the ultimate flexural and
torsional moment capacities are independent of the level of shear
connection. A similar observation is seen for the curved in plan
composite steelconcrete beams as well in Fig. 9(b).
5.3. Effects of beam span length

Fig. 8. Lateral torsional buckling of steel web.

From Fig. 10(a) and (b), the phenomenon that in the presence
of flexure, the torsional strength of the composite steelconcrete
beams increased, whilst the flexural strength remained the same
in the presence of torsion is observed from the strength interaction
ratio relationships for both straight and curved in plan composite
steelconcrete beams.
For the straight composite steelconcrete beams, the rate of
increase for the torsional strength increased with the span length.
Interestingly, the rate of increase dropped from 8 to 10 m span
lengths and increased back again from 10 to 14 m span lengths.

796

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

Table 2
Beam selection for each span length.
Span length (mm)

6000

8000

10 000

12 000

14 000

Thickness (mm)
Width (mm)
Compressive strength (N/mm2 )

120
1500
30

2000

2500

3000

3500

Type

360
UB56.7

530
UB92.4

700
WB150

1000
WB215

1000
WB296

Gross area (mm2 )

Total depth (mm)

7240
359

11 800
533

19 100
710

27 400
1000

37 800
1016

Thickness (mm)
Yield stress (N/mm2 )
Ultimate stress (N/mm2 )

13
300
500

15.6

25

20

28

Steel flange

Thickness (mm)
Yield stress (N/mm2 )
Ultimate stress (N/mm2 )

8
300
500

15.6

10

16

16

Steel web

Longitudinal reinforcing steel

Type (Top)
Type (Bottom)
Spacing (mm)
Concrete cover (mm)
Yield stress (N/mm2 )
Ultimate stress (N/mm2 )

N12
N12
471
25
500
600

638

805

971

1138

Stirrup steel

Type
Concrete cover (mm)
Spacing (mm)
Yield stress (N/mm2 )
Ultimate stress (N/mm2 )

R10
25
100
500
600

Shear connection

Type
Diameter (mm) length (mm)
Number of rows
Spacing for 100% shear connection
Spacing for 50% shear connection
Yield stress (N/mm2 )
Ultimate stress (N/mm2 )

Headed stud
19 100
1
107
214
500
600

86
172

71
142

71
142

71
142

Concrete slab

Steel beam

Fig. 9. 8 m (a) straight and (b) curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams
strength interaction ratio relationships.

Fig. 10. Strength interaction ratio relationships for the (a) partial and (b) full shear
connection straight composite steelconcrete beams.

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

797

shear connectors were small as shown in Fig. 12. However, for

curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams, torsion induced
vertical slips were clearly visible in their models and the shear
connectors were clearly stressed by the uplift forces. Therefore,
torsion induced vertical slips could still be presented in some
designs for buildings and bridges, which affect those numerical
predictions when the assumption where plane sections remain
plane was used. Therefore, ABAQUS modelling has proved to be a
better alternative method.
6. Design models
6.1. Straight composite steelconcrete beams

Based on the parametric study, Fig. 13(a) presents the

flexuretorsion interaction relationship models for the 6 and 8 m
straight composite steelconcrete beams. These models were not
affected by the level of shear connection as discussed previously.
To use these models, the neutral axis has to reside within the
concrete slab section. The relationship equations can be written as
following.
For a 6 m straight composite steelconcrete beam,
T /TU = 0.1 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.1.

(2)
(3)

For a 8 m straight composite steelconcrete beam,

Fig. 11. Strength interaction ratio relationships for the (a) partial and (b) full shear
connection curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams.

The reason for this was that the neutral axes for both 6 and 8 m
span lengths was situated within the concrete slab section, whilst
the neutral axes for the 10, 12 and 14 m span lengths was situated
in the steel beam section. The change in location of the neutral axis
affected the rate of increase in the torsional strength of the straight
composite steelconcrete beams.
For the curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams, same
the phenomenon with the increase in torsional strength in the
presence of flexure is observed in Fig. 11(a) and (b). However,
the rate of increase for the torsional strength was affected by
the torsional lateral buckling of the steel web because of the
increasing depth of the steel web when the span length increased.
Nevertheless, the rate of increase could still be clearly identified
from the strength interaction relationship diagrams.
5.4. Effects of torsion induced vertical slip
The phenomenon of torsion induced slip has been discovered
during the experimental tests carried out by Tan and Uy [9,10]. Due
to this torsion induced vertical slip, the assumption where plane
sections remain plane is sometime not valid for the composite
steelconcrete beams subjected to torsion. This discovery could
affected the assumption using by several researchers such as
Erkmen and Bradford [7] and Pi et al. [8]. However, by using
ABAQUS with 3D brick element given to the steel beam, concrete
slab and shear connectors, the effects of this torsion induced
vertical slip could be modelled.
From the parametric study where practical proportions of the
composite steelconcrete beams used in buildings and bridges
with different span lengths were modelled, some of their von
Mises stress diagrams at the mid-span are shown in Fig. 12.
For the straight composite steelconcrete beams, there was no
visible torsion induced vertical slip between their concretesteel
interfaces. The reason was the uplift forces induced through the

T /TU = 0.3 (M /MU ) + 1

when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.3.

(4)
(5)

For the span lengths of 10, 12 and 14 m, Fig. 13(b) presents other
design models. To use these proposed design models, the neutral
axis has to reside within the steel beam section. The relationship
equations can be written as following.
For a 10 m straight composite steelconcrete beam,
T /TU = 0.2 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.2.

(6)
(7)

For a 12 m straight composite steelconcrete beam,

T /TU = 0.3 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.3.

(8)
(9)

For a 14 m straight composite steelconcrete beam,

T /TU = 0.5 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.5

(10)
(11)

M = flexural moment capacity at failure

MU = ultimate flexural moment capacity for the beams under pure
flexure
T = torsional moment capacity at failure
TU = ultimate flexural moment capacity for the beams under pure
torsion.
6.2. Curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams
Based on the parametric study, Fig. 14 presents the flexuretorsion interaction relationship models for the 6, 8, 10, 12 m

798

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

Fig. 12. Mid-span cross-sectional views of concretesteel interface for composite steelconcrete beams under pure torsion.

curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams. The 14 m span

length has been omitted until bracing is designed and computed
using ABAQUS in the future. Interpolation within these curves can
be used for the other intermediate span lengths such as 7 or 9 m for
curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams subjected to combined flexure and torsion.
For a 6 m curved in plan composite steelconcrete beam,
T /TU = 0.3 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 1.3.

(12)
(13)

For a 8 m curved in plan composite steelconcrete beam,

T /TU = (M /MU ) + 1
M /MU = 1

when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1 (14)

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 2.

(15)

For a 10 m curved in plan composite steelconcrete beam,

T /TU = 1.25 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 2.25.

(16)
(17)

For a 12 m curved in plan composite steelconcrete beam,

T /TU = 1.5 (M /MU ) + 1
when 0 M /MU < 1 and T /TU 1
M /MU = 1

when M /MU 1 and 0 T /TU 2.5

(18)
(19)

M = flexural moment capacity at failure

MU = ultimate flexural moment capacity for the beams under pure
flexure

T = torsional moment capacity at failure

TU = ultimate flexural moment capacity for the beams under pure
torsion.
7. Concluding remarks
The development and validation of a 3D finite element
model was carried out to simulate the behaviour of straight
concrete slabs, straight steel beams, straight and curved in plan
composite steelconcrete beams subjected to combined flexure
and torsion with the influence of partial shear connection. From
the finite element models, failure modes, full flexural and torsional
responses of the composite steelconcrete beams were adequately
simulated until failure. The finite element models provided further
proof that due to the twisting of the composite steelconcrete
beams, different curvatures for the steel beam and concrete
slab occasionally occurred when torsion was presented. This
phenomenon is known as torsion induced vertical slip.
The parametric study also has reinforced the same phenomenon where the torsional strength increased in the presence
of flexure for composite steelconcrete beams as in [9,10,1720]
where extensive numbers of experimental tests were carried out.
However, the phenomenon where the flexural strength remained
the same in the presence of torsion was only supported by the experimental tests from [9,10]. From the parametric study, the rate
of torsional strength increase depended on the location of the neutral axis and span length for the straight composite steelconcrete
beams. For the curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams, this
rate increased with the increase in the span length. However, for
both straight and curved in plan composite steelconcrete beams,

E.L. Tan, B. Uy / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 67 (2011) 790799

799

and torsion. Even though this paper only looks into single steel
beam span which are commonly only to edge beams and pedestrian footbridges, but the validated finite element model can also
be used for the study of several steel beams span such highway interchanges and bridges in the future.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Australian Research
Council Discovery Project (ARCDP) for financial support and all the
technical staff of the University of Wollongong for their skilled
assistance during the testing. The authors would also like to
acknowledge Dr. Olivia Mirza from the University of Western
Sydney for her professional assistance in the finite element
modelling.

Fig. 13. Design models for the (a) 6 and 8 m and (b) 10, 12 and 14 m straight
composite steelconcrete beams.

Fig. 14. Design models for the 6, 8, 10 and 12 m curved in plan composite
steelconcrete beams.

there was no significant impact from the reduction of the level of

shear connection to their ultimate strength interaction ratio relationships.
Design models have been proposed to illustrate the flexuretorsion interaction relationships for both straight and curved
in plan composite steelconcrete beams for the readers. These proposed design models provided conservative lower limits for the
composite steelconcrete beams subjected to combined flexure

References
[1] Standards Australia. Australian Standard AS 2327.1-2003 Composite structures. Part 1: Simply supported beams. Standards Australia International Ltd;
2003.
[2] British Standards Institution. Eurocode 4: Design of composite steel and
concrete structures. Part 1.1: general rules and rules for buildings, DDENV
1994-1-1. European Committee for Standardisation (CEN); 1992.
[3] American Institute of Steel Construction. AISC steel construction manual.
American Institute of Steel Construction 13 edition; 2006.
[4] Yam LCP, Chapman JC. The inelastic behaviour of simply supported composite
beams of steel and concrete. Proceedings Institution of Civil Engineers 1968;
41(1):65183.
[5] Razaqpur AG, Nofal M. A finite element for modeling the nonlinear behaviour
of shear connectors in composite structures. Computational Structures 1989;
32(1):16974.
[6] Thevendran V, Chen S, Shanmugam NE, Richard Liew JY. Nonlinear analysis of
steelconcrete composite beams curved in plan. Finite Elements in Analysis
and Design 1999;32:12539.
[7] Erkmen RE, Bradford MA. Nonlinear elastic analysis of composite beams
curved in-plan. Engineering Structures 2009;31:161324.
[8] Pi YL, Bradford MA, Uy B. Second order nonlinear inelastic analysis
of composite steelconcrete members. I: Theory. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 2006;132(5):75161.
[9] Tan EL, Uy B. Experimental study on straight composite beams subjected to
combined flexure and torsion. Journal of Construction Steel Research 2009;
65:78493.
[10] Tan EL, Uy B. Experimental study on curved composite beams subjected to
combined flexure and torsion. Journal of Construction Steel Research 2009;
65:185563.
[11] Standards Australia. Australian Standard AS 1012.9-1999 methods of testing
concrete determination of the compressive strength of concrete specimens.
Standards Australia International Ltd; 1999.
[12] Standards Australia. Australian Standard AS 1012.10-2000 methods of testing
concrete determination of the indirect tensile strength of concrete
specimens (Brasil or splitting test). Standards Australia International Ltd;
2000.
[13] Carreira D, Chu K. Stressstrain relationship for plain concrete in compression.
Journal of ACI Structural 1985;82:797804.
[14] Standards Australia. Australian Standard AS 1391-1991 methods of tensile
testing metals. Standards Australia International Ltd; 1991.
[15] Loh HY, Uy B, Bradford MA. The effects of partial shear connection in the
hogging moment regions of composite beams. Part II analytical study. Journal
of Construction Steel Research 2004;60:92162.
[16] Standards Australia. Australian/NewZealand Standard AS/NZS 1170.1-2002
Structural design actions. Part 1: Permanent, imposed and other actions.
Standards Australia International Ltd; 2002.
[17] Singh RK, Mallick SK. Experiments on steelconcrete composite beams
subjected to torsion and combined flexure and torsion. The Indian Concrete
Journal 1977;51:2430.
[18] Ghosh B, Mallick SK. Strength of steelconcrete composite beams under
combined flexure and torsion. The Indian Concrete Journal 1979;53:4853.
[19] Ray MB, Mallick SK. Interaction of flexure and torsion in steelconcrete
composite beams. The Indian Concrete Journal 1980;54:803.
[20] Nie J, Luo L, Hu S. Experiential study on composite steelconcrete beams
under combined bending and torsion. Composite and Hybrid Structures 2000;
2:6318.