Proc. Instn Ciu. Engrs, Part 2,1981,71, Dec.

, 25-51

8506 continuous
Experiments
on
composite beams

P. ANSOURIAN, BSc, BE, PhD, MIEAust*

Tests are presented of six continuous composite beams of 9 m length and having compact
steel section. Two beams had limited rotation capacity and were tested under severe sagging
rotation conditions; the other four were loaded symmetrically and included cases where
local buckling contributed to failure. It is proposed that beams having ductility parameter X
greater than 1.4 can be designed using simple plastic theory, without regard to loading and
span configuration. An assessment is made of the vertical shear resistance of the slab at
interior supports.It is concluded that simple plastic design incorporating full plastic
moment values may be confidently used in continuous composite beams having compact
steel section, adequate slab and shear connection, even under conditions of severe rotation
requirement.

Introduction
Early tests of composite beamsof single and multiple spans indicate that conven-
tional plastic design could be applied to continuous composite beams,albeit with
some reservations. Barnard and Johnson’ classified hinges as strain-hardening
when the slab was in tension (negative hinge) and strain-softening when in com-
pression (positive hinge), and concluded that plastic design should be applicable to
any composite beam in which the positive hinge is the last to form. Slutter and
Driscol12 stated that positive plastic hinges have sufficient rotation capacity to
permit the formationof a negativehinge. Park’ tested small-scale two-span beams
and varied the amount of longitudinal reinforcement. His beams required little
redistribution to form a plastic mechanism and were therefore not a severe test of
theapplicability of plastic design. Tachibana4studiedcracking in negative
moment regions and concluded that a minimum of 1.5% slab reinforcement en-
sured crack widths of less than 0.2 mm at a reinforcement stress of 200N/mm2.
The same recommendation is made by Fisher et al.’ Hamada and Longworth6
studied the influence of negative reinforcement on the ultimate load and on the
buckling behaviour near the interior support. They made recommendations for
compression flange slenderness required to ensure the formation of a mechanism
before buckling takes place as a function of the amount of reinforcement. Hope-
Gill and Johnson’ tested three three-span beams which were planned to investi-
gate cases of severe sagging or hogging rotation requirements, and recommended
that plastic design of compact sectionsis possible, subject to restrictions about the
plastic neutral axis position, the length of the end span, and the distribution of
loading.
2. Large-scale beams 20 m long and having slender webs were tested by Roik
and Ehlert.* The cause of failure in these wasplastification of the steel girder at the

Written discussion closes 17 May 1982, for publication in Proceedings, Part 2.

* University of Sydney.
25
ANSOURIAN

interior support under the combined effect of bending and shear stresses, but it
could be predicted using a collapse mechanism in which the plastic moment of the
support section was calculated excluding theweb contribution.
3. The experiments described in this Paper were planned to give further infor-
mation on the ultimate behaviourof continuous composite beamswhen the steel
joist is compact' and to assess the effect of cross-section ductility on the ultimate
rotation of hinges. Previous studies" have shown the importanceof cross-section
properties on the ultimate sagging momentand on the plastic rotation; the latter

Notation
area of flange
area of steel joist
area of web
width of I-section flange
width of slab
width of flange outstand
distance from top reinforcement to top of slab
depth of member
thickness of slab
depth of joist
Young's modulus of steel
initial strain-hardening modulus
cylinder strength of concrete
cube strength of concrete
lower yield stress of steel
lower yield stress of web steel
modulus of rigidity of steel
clear height of web
span length
maximum moment at hogging section
maximum moment at sagging section
full plastic moment in sagging bending
full plastic moment in hogging bending
applied load
maximum applied load
simple plastic load
theoretical collapse load from accurate analysis
crack spacing
flange thickness
thickness of flange outstand
web thickness
interlock shear force
shear force carried by elastic uncracked slab
transverse deflexion
elastic component of deflexion at simple plastic load
transverse displacement across crack
strain at start of strain-hardening
crushing strain of concrete
strain at first yield of steel
ultimate rotation divided by elastic component of rotation
Poisson's ratio
interlock shear stress
curvature of section or bar diameter
ductiiity parameter
 C O N T I N U O U S C O M P O S I T E BEAMS
was governed principally by the magnitude of the flange strains and hence the
extent of strain-hardening developed in the steel beam when the slab crushed.
Beams of low ultimate rotation capacitywere identified as those havinga narrow
slab, or a steel joist of high yield stress, or generally having cross-sectional proper-
ties which did not permit sufficiently large strains to develop in the lower flange
when the slab crushed. A test wasgiven to distinguish between cross-sections
havingabell-shapedmoment-curvaturerelation (strain-softening) and those
which strain-harden. A ductility parameter" X was defined as the ratio of the
limitingneutral axis depth to theconventionalneutral axis depth at ultimate
strength; values of X greater than 1.0 indicate that the lower flange strain-hardens
before collapse. Confirmation of this description is provided by tests of beams
subjected to a single concentrated load." These had awide range of cross-section
properties ( X = 0.65-3.0) and collapsed by crushing of the slab atflange strains of
0 . 8 ~ , ~ - 3 ~ , at
, , , ultimate moments of 0.99Mp-1.17M,, and at ultimate deflexion
ratios of 24-84. Expressions for minimum ultimate deflexion ratio and plastic
rotationratio canbe foundasafunction of thecross-section and material
properties."
4. Tests of six continuous composite beams 9 m long and having values of X in
the range 0.7-2.0 are presented.The first beam had cross-sectionductility slightly
less than the value of 1.4 proposed" as a limiting value above which sufficient
sagging rotationexists for the worst combinationsof spans and loadings. Someof
the beams are loaded symmetrically and include cases where local buckling of the
flange at the interior support contributesto failure. The major variablesof the test
program were the loading configuration, the slab width and the geometry of the
compact steel joist. The observed behaviouris compared with numerical studiesof

kr*33 . .-

ntr
\

11201 l

Fig. 1. Configuration of test beams

ANSOURIAN

$2
*?
I
EZ
- X

t
I
t
-r
 C O N T I N U O U SC O M P O S I T EB E A M S

Q
m
-
T
2 8
8 %

\owo 00
zz::
8
1

t
t

29
ANSOURIAN
continuous composite beams; collapsestates caused by crushing and local buck-
ling are discussed. An assessment is made of the contributionof the slab tovertical
shear resistanceat hogging momenthinges.

Beams and testing procedure

5. The properties and configuration of the six test beams are summarized in
Tables 1 and 2 and in Fig. 1.
6. Beams CTBl and CTB2 were designed primarily to provide further experi-
mental insight into problems of sagging rotation. For both beams, the two spans
were 4 m and5 m long, with single a concentrated load at thecentre of the shorter
span. For this configuration, the negative moment at the interior support is one
third of the maximum positive moment under cracked elastic conditions, and
therefore considerable plastic rotation of the positive momenthinge was required
for the plastic moment at the support tobe developed.
7. The cross-section of CTBl consisted of an IPE200 steel section (details are
given in Table 1 andFig. 1) and a slab800 mm X 100 mm. The sagging ductility X
was 1.3. The section was therefore strain-hardening but not strongly so, and was a
good test of the proposal that suficient sagging rotation exists for all span and
loadingconfigurations if X is greaterthan 1.4. Inthenegativemomentzone,
longitudinal reinforcement of 1120mm’ (1.4%) was provided, 70% of which was
in the top layer to provide good cracking control (see also Table 1).
8. The shear connection consisted of 66welded studs 19 mm X 75 mm, re-
sulting in aconnectionstrength of 150% of therequiredstrength in positive
bending and 160% in negative bending. Transverse bars 10 mm in diameter at
100 mm centres were provided at the bottom of the slab. In the test series, the
connection strength varied between 95% and 160%, as shown in Table 1. The
effects of slip were therefore relatively small. Slip does not necessarily improve the
plastic behaviour of a continuous composite beam as both sagging and hogging
moment regions are affected, and the benefit of additional rotation at one hinge
due to slip is reduced or cancelled by the greater curvatures required to develop
the plastic moment at anotherhinge.
9. Beam CTB2 differed mainly in the width of the slab, which was increased
from 800 mm to 1300 mm, raising the ductility parameter to 2.0. According to the
recommendations in reference 11, this should have the effect of almost doubling
the ultimate deflexion and theplastic rotation of the sagginghinge.
10. Beams CTB3-6 were symmetric and loaded by concentrated loads at the
centre of both spans to investigate hogginghinges. The joist in beams CTB3 and
CTB4 was of IPBL 200 section (Table l), characterized by a wide compression
flange at the limit of compactnessg bf,4~f,= 8. The slab was 1300 mm wide in
CTB3 ( X = 1.5) and 800 mm in CTB4 ( X = 0.7). Beams CTB5 and CTB6 were
characterized by webs on the limit of compactness (h&, = 31) and flanges which,
while compact, hadrelatively low lateral rigidity. Again reinforcement was provid-
ed at the interior support of 1.3-2% (Table 1).
11. The concrete strength was measured with three 200 mm cubes per beam.
The steel properties of lower yield stress, end of yield plateau and initial strain-
hardening modulus were measured on standard coupons, two from each flange
and two from theweb.
12. Thethreesupportpoints werelevelled to within2 mm of eachother.
Deflexion measurements were taken at midspan, and were corrected for the small
movements of the support points. Slip readings were taken at theends of the beam
30
 C O N T I N U O U SC O M P O S I T E BEAMS

only. Strain measurementswere made at midspan by pairs of strain gauges glued

to the joistflanges, and at sections200 mm and 150 mm either side of the interior
support. All curvature values arecalculatedfromstrainreadingsinthe joist
flanges. Jack loadingwas applied in small increments under stroke control, and all
deflexion and strain readings were taken at eachloadincrement. Athalf the
estimated collapse load P,J2, 60 cycles of loading in the range 0 - P,J2 were
applied, at the end of which the crack widths and spacings were measured. Near
collapse, the load increments were further reduced and readings taken almost
continuously under computer control. The duration of a test to collapse was
typically three hours.

Experimental results
13. The experimental results, together with theoretical results, are summarized
in Tables2-4 and Figs 2-28. The theoretical curvesof deflexion, strain and curva-
ture were evaluated using a non-linear computer analysis" which included the
effects of flexure and slip but not those of transverse shear, and in which the
cross-section behaviour was as described in reference 10. The tri-linear stress-
strain relation used for steel was defined by values of cy, &,h and &, and the CEB
curve for concrete12 incorporated a cylinder strength estimated as 0.82F,, . The
simple plastic load P,, indicated is the jack load required to produce a classical
plastic mechanism togetherwith the self-weight of the beam W ,and is givenby

P,, = ( M , , 4-0.5MPh- -
L
where L is the length of the collapsing span,M,, the sagging full plastic moment
and M,, the hoggingplastic moment includingall the longitudinal reinforcement.
These twoplastic moments were not reducedfor the effect of transverse shear.

Beams requiring sagging rotation capacity

14. The deflexion history of CTBl is shown in Fig. 2. Collapse of this beam
occurred at a jack load of 198 kN, or O.966Ps,, which was less than the simple

DEFLECTION 1 mm I

Fig. 2. Deflexion history of beam CTBl

31
ANSOURIAN

2
W
4
"c:
0 0
W
::S
N N
g8 g8
A A

v, N l -
W m m
v, m -

2
v,

v,m

A
-
52
8
80

32
C O N T I N U O U SC O M P O S I T E BEAMS

v,
m
N

v,

v,
m
m

0
7
4
ANSOURIAN
OBSERVED
COLLAPY = AB k N
\
\
\\ \\

. . . ..
l l
EXPERIMENT lower fhrqe

--l
, :
~

,
STRAIN l r
nrn
r
n
lrn1

Fig. 3. Steel strain at sagging and hogging sections, beam CTBl

__ ~-

i
d l
l ~

9 EXPERIMENT (from stmlns tn psf l

THEORY l Cracked Jab, m shp l

eo sb
CURVATURE Q (mm-' 10-6 I
Fig. 4. Curvatures at sagging and hogging sections, beam CTBl

.LAPSE
-\

UFLECTDN lmnl
Fig. 5. Deflexion history of beam CTB2
34
 CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE BEAMS
L
axr
W N G
~ ~

HoGUNG- \

-1
~

- --t---- -- ~~~

----A
4 I
-
'
I---
~

!
~

m 150 203
Fig. 6. Mornent/curvature relations for beam CTB2 O6

Pp

STRAIN lm m /ml
Fig. 7. Steel strain at sagging and hogging hinges, beam CTB2

~.
OBSERVED
COLLAPSE 237 kN

W I r I l i
I
I I l
--.---.-*-EXPERIMENT l from strotns In joist )
THEORY l cmcked slob , II) sllp 1
l
l
l l
l 1 1 l
0 m L0 m 80 1W la,
CURVATURE B (mm-' 10-6 I
Fig. 8. Curvatures at sagging and hogging sections, beam CTBz

35
ANSOURIAN
plastic load of 205 kN, although thesagging hinge was of the strain-hardening type
( X = 1.3). At collapse, the bending moments at the sagging and hogging moment
sections were respectively 1.09Mp,and 0.65Mp, (Table 4), showing that although
the sagging section had strain-hardened, insufficient rotation capacity existed to
develop either M,, or P,, . In fact, at the last load increment before unloading, the
elastic limit was barely reached at the hogging section (Fig. 3). The maximum
deflexion at unloading was 52 mm, and the maximum steel strain 0.0147 at the
sagging section and 0.0014 at the hogging section. This history of the curvatures at
both sections is shown in Fig. 4.
15. The collapse section at midspan had the typical appearance of all sagging
hinges in this test series (Fig. 27): almost the entire steel section had yielded in
tension; the top of the slab was crushed and spalled; the underside, lightly re-
inforced, had fine transverse cracks spaced at about 150 mm, and a single wide
crack at midspan. At unloading, the support section had barely yielded but the
potential strength reserve there could not be mobilized as the sagging section was
apparently unloading at a rate faster than could be compensated for by the hog-
ging section.
16. Beam CTB2, which was similar in most respects to CTB1, had a wider slab,
and therefore greater sagging rotation capacity characterized by X = 2.0 and a
rising moment-curvature relationship (Fig. 6). This was reflected in the ultimate
load, and the deflexion and strains at unloading (Figs 5, 7 and 8). The maximum
deflexionwas then 113 mm-more thandouble that of CTBI. When strains
became too large for accurate measurement, the maximum steel strain was greater
than 0.025 ( 1 . 4 ~ at~ both
~) the sagging and hogging sections. At 98% of the
collapse load, the peak bending moments were 1.12MP,and 0,91M,, respectively.
Although the fuil plastic moment of the support section M,, was not developed,
the simple plastic load P,, was then exceeded by 6%, because of the overriding
effect of the higher sagging moment (see equation (1)).
17. The flange strains at both critical sections had values well into the strain-
hardening range. In the last three load increments before unloading, the strains at
the hogging section increased rapidly from 0.003to 0.025 (Fig. 7), showing that the
sagging hinge was much more ductile than in CTBl and allowed a fully ductile
failure to develop. This improved rotation capacity is shown in Figs 4 and 8: in
CTBl the sagging hinge lost moment capacity at a curvature of about 70 X 10-6
mm-', but in CTB2 the ultimate curvature was about twice this value.
18. Deflexion curves for CTBl and CTB2, made non-dimensional by dividing
load by Pspand deflexion by the elastic component at P,, , are shown together with
ideal elastic-plastic theory in Fig. 9. The improved ultimate behaviour of CTB2 is
evident, and is entirely the result of an increase in slab width from 800 mm to 1300
mm, which raised the value of X from 1.3 to 2.0. The ultimate load was raised by
10%to 1.06Ps,, and the ultimate deflexion by a factor of 2.5.
19. At the collapse of CTB2, a fully-developed flange/web buckle appeared to
the right of the interior support, but not to the left (Fig. 24). This shows the
significance of the moment gradient to the problem of buckling in the plastic
range. The moment gradient had a value of 155 kN to the left of the support but
only 32 kN to the right of it; yielding therefore progressed rapidly along the
right-hand span and thelength of plastified flange and web soon exceeded the full
wavelength of the potential flange b ~ c k 1 e . lThe
~ latter was calculated to be 240
mm (Table 4) and, when the bearing plate was included, sufficient yielding for the
formation of the buckle was calculated to occur at a jack load of 214 kN. In fact,
36
 CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE BEAMS
the start of buckling was detected at 220 kN by marked asymmetry of the flange
strain readings, but collapse by simultaneous buckling at the support and slab
crushing at midspan didnot occur until 237 kN.
20. Results from these two beam tests confirmed predictions made from pre-
vious sagging bending investigations" and from computer analysis: under severe
sagging rotation configurations, the simple plastic load is exceeded provided the
cross-section ductility is adequate. The limiting value X = 1.4 proposed inref-
erence 11iscloselyverified. Nevertheless, P,, in the test configuration is then
reached only because the sagging moment rises above M,, throughstrain-
hardening.
Symmetrically loaded beams
21. Beams CTB3 and CTB4 were characterized by a steel compression flange
on the limit of compactness. The rotation capacity and the ultimate load were
therefore potentially limited by local buckling failure in the plastic range. Apart
from small variations in the material properties (Table 2), they differed primarily in
the width of slab. CTB3 was 1300 mm wide and had significantly greater sagging
rotation and strain-hardening capacity than CTB4 which was 800 mm wide. The
values of M , at the critical sections, calculated from measured properties, were
within 4% in the two beams (see Table 4).
22. The behaviour of beam CTB3 is summarized in Figs 10-22 and 25. In all
respects it satisfied the criteria of good structural behaviour throughout the load-
ing range. At the working load, the transverse cracks in the hogging moment
region had a maximum width of 0.07 mm and spacing of 1 W 2 0 0 mm. Collapse
occurred at an applied load of 598 kN or 16% above the simple plastic load. The
deflexion at unloading was 108 mm (Fig. lO), i.e. 16 times the deflexion at working
load. The peak moments were 14%(sagging)and 20% (hogging) greater than their
full plastic values; large strains were developed (Figs 11 and 12) which allowed
significant strain-hardening at both critical sections.
23. At unloading, the top of the slab at midspan was crushing and spalling and
the local flange buckle (Fig. 25)whichwasfirst clearly visible at 96% of the
collapse load, was well formed and had an amplitude equal to at least the flange

ICTBl!
lCTB 2 I

Fig. 9. Beams with sagging rotation requirements

37
ANSOURIAN
thickness. An estimate of the full wavelength of this buckle"is 395 mm. The
numerical analysis of the beam shows that as the midspan section approaches its
maximum moment capacity of 1.14MP,,the length of plastified flange and web at
the interior support is about 370 mm, i.e. nearly suficient to satisfy this buckling
criterion.
24. Vertical shear transfer in composite cantilevers was studied by Johnson
and Wil1mingto1-1'~who concluded that the shear strength and stiffness of the
beam exceeded that of the joistalone, but also that a negligible amount of vertical
shear was transferred directly from theslab to the column once the top re-
inforcement had yielded. They also found that longitudinal reinforcement in the
slab increases the strengthand stiffness in vertical shear.
25. In this test series, the transverse shear loading at the interior support was

PREDCTION
~ .- -'\
OBSERVED 0OLLAFSE 598kN

SIMPLE
PLASTIC
LOAD 51L kN

'THEORY Imcludlng sllp 1

THEORY
*44-0--. EXPERIMEM

~ 1 -

l l
eo 20
-
DEFLECTION AT MID SPPN [mm 1

Fig. 10. Deflexion history of beam CTB3

600 -- . ~

.. .*.-=-
0,BSERVED COLLAPS,
,
~~

1
..
..* SIMPLE
PLASTIC
L040 51L k N

l P12 l P12

LEFT OF SUPPORT
9 RIGHT OF SUPPORT }
EXPERIMEN,
THEORY Icmcked slob, no sllp 1

STRAIN lmlm l
Fig. 11. Lower flange strains at support, beam CTB3

38
 C O N T I N U O U S COMPOSITE BEAMS
the most severe in beam CTB3. The shear force at collapse was 200 kN, and the
shear capacity of the stocky web was 168kN, calculated asDt, F J J 3 , where D is
the full depth of the joist. The shear capacity of the web excluding the fillets was
118 kN. In steel beams, the maximum resistance to shear is the sum of the contri-
butions from a pure shear field, a diagonal tension field and a frame mechanism
involving the flanges.” In the rolled section of CTB3, most of the shear resistance
arises from the web, and the potential contribution of any flange action is less than
4%. The hogging composite section supported simultaneously a moment 20%
greater than the full plastic moment of the joist and reinforcement, and a shear
force 19% greater than the full shear value of 168 kN. Such reserves of strength in
shear are evident in other tests of composite beams having a rolled steel section6*’
but not in tests where the web isslender.’
26. Another contribution to shear resistance that has not been included in this
evaluation is that of the reinforced slab. With the relative proportions of slab and
joist used here, and the observed maximum crack width of less than 0.5 mm at
unloading, it is apparent that this contribution is significant. The mechanism of
shear transfer by aggregate interlock, where the growth of the transverse flexural
cracks is controlled by the heavy longitudinal reinforcement, can account for the
observed shear strength. Paulay and Loeber16 presented shear stress-shear dis-
placement relationships based on tests of unreinforced cracked surfaces where the
crack width was maintained constant by external clamping forces. Using these,
and making lower bound assumptions regarding thedistribution of interlock
stresses, the analysis in # 3 4 3 6 shows that a shear force of the orderof 40 kN can
be conservatively assumed to have been carried by the slab at collapse, represen-
ting about 20%of the total shear force.
27. Beam CTB4 (the narrow slab) unloaded at 518 kN or 3% above the simple
plastic load (Fig. 13) at an ultimate deflexion of 53 mm or seven times the working
load deflexion. Maximum steel strains just before collapse were 0.014 or 0 . 7 8 ~ , ~
(Figs 14-16) at both sagging and hogging sections, where the moments exceeded
their full plastic values by barely 3%. As a result, insufficient plasticity had devel-
oped in hogging for a flange buckle to develop, although a slight wave was visible

M L0 @l 80 103
CLRVATURE 4 I mm-’X 10-6 l

Fig. 12. Curvatures at sagging and hogging sections, beam CTB3

39
ANSOURIAN
as crushing of the midspan concrete triggered collapse. Although the simple plastic
load was exceeded, thepotentialstrength reserves evident in CTB3 were not
developed because of the limited rotation capacity of the midspansections.
28. Beams CTBS and CTB6 had deeper joists with the web on the limit of
compactness. Deflexion, strain and curvature are plotted in Figs 17-22. CTBS
showed a buckle at unloading (Fig. 26) but it was not sufficiently developed to
have been the immediate cause of collapse; the sagging hinge is shown in Fig. 27
and the entire beam after collapse in Fig. 28: The maximum crack width at the
interior support was 0.25 mm, at a spacing of 120 mm. Beam CTB6 had greater
sagging rotation capacity than CTBS because of higher concrete strength, and
lozal buckling was again the trigger for failure. The buckle was first clearly visible
at 90% of the collapse load and hadmaximum amplitude of 12 mm.

i_
PLASTIC i

20 L0 60 80 la
DEFLECTION AT MID - SPbN [ mm1

Fig. 13. Deflexion history of beam CTB4

T-- l

I I F I ' l

Om5 0.m 0015 0.020

STRAIN [ m / m l
Fig. 14. Lower flange strains at midspan, beam CTB4

40
 C O N T I N U O U SC O M P O S I T EB E A M S

29. In all six beams of the series, loud reports were heard at loads slightly
above the working load. These were attributed to the breaking of bond between
the slab and the joist flange, and the simultaneous transfer of shear to the stud
connectors. Sudden jumps in the end slip gauge readings to about 0.2 mm were
recorded; thereafter these readings increased to about 1 mm at the ultimate load.
The better agreement between measured and computed deflexions when the effect
of slip was included isseen,for example, in Fig. 13. Slip caused increases of
deflexion of about 10% inthe elastic range and nearly 50% in the plastic range.
30. The deflexion history of beams CTB3-6 is plotted in non-dimensional form
for direct comparison in Fig. 23. CTB4 had the narrowest slab of the group and
had the smallest reserve of strength over the simple plastic load, as well as the
minimum ultimate deflexion of four times the elastic component of deflexion.

Fig. 15. Lower flange strainsat support, beam CTB4

41
ANSOURIAN

0
20
l
U3 M)
1
I
BD
l
W
OEFLECTION AT MID - S m N Im m I

__
~~
~~

r ~~ -
COLLAPSE L W 565kN

1 1 1 1 EXPT IRffiHT SECTION 1

o.oa 0.015 0,020

STRWN ,Imlm 1

42
 CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE BEAMS
Fig. 17 (facing page, top). Deflexion history of beam CTB5

Fig. 18 (facing page, middle). Lower flange strains at midspan, beam CTB5

Fig. 19 (facing page, bottom). Lower flange strains at support, beam CTB5

Fig. 20. Curvature near peak hogging section, beam CTB5

Fig. 21. Curvature at peak sagging section, beam

CTB5

43
ANSOURIAN

PREDICTION G56 kN

1 1 l
20 L0 60 sb &l
DEFLECTION AT MID - SPAN [ mm I

Fig. 22. Deflexion history of beam CTB6

2 L 6 '6 XI
DEFLECTION -
%EL
Fig. 23. Symmetrically loaded beams

44
 CONTINUOUSCOMPOSITEBEAMS

Fig. 24. Collapseof beam CTBZ byflange/web buckling

~~ ~

Fig. 25. Plasticityand local buckleat interior support b a r n CTB3

45
ANSOURIAN

I
l
:I
Fig. 26. Planification cracking and deformation at inter

Fig. 27. Sagging moment hinge

46
 CONTINUOUSCOMPOSITESEAMS

Fig. 28. Collapse of beam CTBS

Further assessment of results

Sagging rotation
31. The first two b e a m s of the series were a severe test of sagging rotation
requirements in composite beams. Beam CTBl has a ductility parameter slightly
below the limit recommended in a previous investigation" for the worst wmbi-
nation of spans and loading, given by

> 1.40
The actual value was X = 1.3 and therefore the beam was capable of sustaining
steel strains above strain-hardening before unloading. For this reason the maxi-
mum sagging moment was 9% higher than M,, resulting in a collapsc load only
3.5% under the simple plasticvalue. However, the hinge had inadequate rotation
to develop anysignificant plasticity at the support section.However, beam CTB2
( X = 2.0) had greater ductility imparted by a'wider and stronger slab and further
rotation occurred until plastic buckling of the flange was observed at thesupport.
32. On the basis of these test results and of a previous series of four simply-
supported beam tests," supported by extensive computer studiesof hinge rotation
usingaccuraterepresentations of steel and wncrete behaviour,"." thelimit
X = 1.4 is realfirmed for the plastic design of continuous beams. Bcams designed
on this basis should have the required degreeof rotation and strain-hardening to
reach the simple plastic load for all span ratios, loading configurationsand reason-
able support or column settlements. It is assumed that self-weight of the beam is
fully effective inreducing rotation requirementsin the case of excessively long end
47
ANSOURIAN

spans; self-weight was included in all computer studies. Other requirements such
as compactness criteria of flange and web, shear connection and transverse shear
adequacy must also be satisfied. If rotation calculations are deemed necessary, the
minimum sagging rotation capacity" may be assessed using

Local buckling
33. With compact steel sections, local buckling in the plastic range limits the
rotation of the negative moment hinge, but the available rotation is considerable,
as has also been shown in other beam tests6.' and in beam to column connection
test^.'^^'^ After the initial appearance of the buckle, further loading and rotation
takes place until large local deformations trigger collapse. In the moment gradients
existing in these and othertests, the local buckling criterionI3 is a useful conserva-
tive expression for estimating the extent of plasticity required for the buckle to
form.

Transverse shear
34.At the support section of compact beams (e.g. CTB3), a transverse shear
force is carried well in excess of the theoretical capacity of the joist alone; at the
same section, a coexistent moment greater than the full plastic moment acts. The
slab is therefore contributing significantly to the shear resistance, and this contri-
bution is assessed using an aggregate interlock mechanism approach. It is assumed
that the shear deformations in the slab are concentrated at the transverse cracks,

SHEAR DISPLACEMENT ( mm 1

Fig. 29. Relationsfor aggregate interlock, after Paulay and Loeber16

48
 CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE BEAMS

and have a magnitude corresponding to the integrated shear strainin the web. The
latter is limited to the shear strain at yield-a conservative assumption made in the
absence of extensive experimental data. The error arising from this assumption is
probably not excessive because of the reduced shear loading of the web when the
slab contributionis included. The shear displacement across acrack is therefore

where S is the minimum crack spacing.

35. Data on aggregate interlock forces are given by Paulay and Loeber16 and
reproduced in Fig. 29 for crack widths of 0.25 mm and 0.5 mm. The effect of the
size of coarse aggregate is statedI6 to have only a minordffect. It is assumed that
crack widths are limited to 0.5 mm at the level of the top layer of reinforcement,
and forces above the toplayer of reinforcement are ignored. Interlock forces, being
limited by fracture, are taken as proportional to the square root of F : . Dowel
action is neglected, as the forces involved are much smaller than the interlock
forces except at very large crack widths. Using the lower bound curve of Fig. 29,
the interlock shear stress is given by
T~~~= (8.9A - 1.04)J(F:/37) (5)
for q n , < 6 N/mmz and A > 0.15 mm. By substituting this into equation (4),the
total interlock force becomes

V&, = B,(D, - c ) (8.9 S - 1.04)

4 K,
For reasons of equilibrium with the elastic cross-section that exists only a short
distance from the support, v,,, is assumed not to exceed the shear component
V,,
carried by the uncracked elastic slab .
36. In the case of CTB3, the crack spacing was between 100 mm and 200 mm;
substituting the smaller value into equation (6) gives 44 kN for the interlock force,
or 22% of the total shear force. The latter value is undoubtedly conservative
because of a number of lower bound assumptionswhich were made in the analysis.
The shear carried by the slab under elastic conditions was calculated to be 66 kN
and was therefore not a limiting value.

Conclusions
37. Results of tests on six continuous composite beams consisting of steel
beams of compact cross-section connected to concrete slabs with welded studs are
presented.
38. The rotation capacity of sagging moment hinges under concentrated load-
ing is governed by the cross-section dimensions, yield stress and concrete strength.
The rotation is small in beams having small slabs and/or weak concrete, large
joists and/or high yield stress; in such beams crushing limits the rotation before
large strains can develop in the joist.
39. Under conditions of severe sagging rotation requirement, a beam having
ductility parameter X = 1.3(equation (2))did not attain the simple plastic collapse
49
ANSOURIAN

load; the sagging hinge moment reached 1.09Mp,, but the support section had
barely yielded when crushing caused unloading of the beam. Beams with X > 1.4
should attain the simple plastic load, for the worst combination of spans and
loading, as has also been shown by extensive computations and tests of simply
supported beams. However, the collapse stateis not necessarily one in which the
hogging plastic moment M,, is developed at all peak negative moment sections.
With X = 2.0 a ductile collapse mechanismwas formed at a load 6% greater than
the simpleplastic load.
40. When flanges and webs are compact, local buckling occurs well into the
strain-hardening range, and the available rotation in hogging bendingis similar to
that of a steel beam almost fully restrained on the tension flange. A conservative
estimate of the rotation limit set by local buckling may be made. Although local
buckles set the ultimate load level in some of the test beams, sufficient rotation
existed for all sagging hinge sections to develop moments in excess of the full
plastic value, in the range1.03-1~14Mp,.
41. Compositebeams with compact steel sections and longitudinal re-
inforcement percentagesaround 1.5% can simultaneously carry negative moments
well in excess of M, (1.20Mphin CTB3) and transverse shears greater than thefull
shear capacityof the web. An expression for the shear carriedby the slab, based on
aggregate interlock stresses, has been advanced; in the most heavily loaded beam
it predicts conservatively that the slab carries shear forces of at least 22% of the
total shear force. Further work is required to provide a less conservative estimate
of the slab contribution.
42. Simple plastic design using full plastic moment values may be confidently
used in continuous composite beams having compactsteel section, adequate slab
( X > 1.4) and shear connection, under conditions of severe rotation requirement.

Acknowledgements
43. This work was carried out as part of a special studies programme at the
University of Sydney, and was supported by the Alexander von HumboldtFoun-
dation, Bonn-Bad Godesberg.The work was performed in the Structural Labora-
tories of the Ruhr-University, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany. The en-
couragement and assistance provided by Professor Dr Ing. K. Roik and his staff
are gratefully acknowledged.

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51