CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 PREVIOUS HISTORY OF COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

Composite construction as we know it today was first used in both a building and a bridge in
U.S. over a century ago. The first forms of composite structures incorporated the use of steel and
concrete for flexural members, and the issue of longitudinal slip between these elements was
soon identified.

Composite steel–concrete beams are the earliest form of the composite construction method. In
U.S. a patent by an American engineer was developed for the shear connectors at the top flange
of a universal steel section to prevent longitudinal slip. This was the beginning of the
development of fully composite systems in steel and concrete. Concrete-encased steel sections
were initially developed in order to overcome the problem of fire resistance and to ensure that
the stability of the steel section was maintained throughout loading. The steel section and
concrete act compositely to resist axial force and bending moments.
A composite tubular column was developed because they provided permanent and integral
formwork for a compression member and were instrumental in reducing construction time and
consequently costs. They reduce the requirement of lateral reinforcement and costly tying, as
well as provide easier connection to steel beams of a framed structure.

Composite slabs have been introduced recently to consider the increase in strength that can be
achieved if the profiled steel sheeting is taken into account in strength calculations. Composite
slabs provide permanent and integral reinforcement, which eliminates the need for placing and
stripping of plywood and timber formwork. More recently, composite slab and beam systems
have been developed for reinforced concrete framed construction; this provides advantages
similar to those attributed to composite slabs for reinforced concrete slab and beam systems.
These advantages include reduced construction time due to elimination of formwork and
elimination of excessive amounts of reinforcing steel. This subsequently reduces the span-to-
depth ratios of typical beams and also reduces labour costs.

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 Fig. 2.1 Composite Steel–Concrete Beams and Slabs, Car Park, Australia

The application of profiled steel sheeting as both permanent formwork and reinforcement to
concrete slabs was first developed in America in the early 1950s. Following its introduction into
the United Kingdom in the 1970s it has become the most common form of floor system for steel
framed office buildings. In Australia, in the early 1990’s much research was carried out using the
same construction technique in beams also. In this chapter, a thorough review is given of
research into composite construction, including beams, slab with steel decking and profiled
composite beams.

2.1 STUDIES ON COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

Tests on steel concrete composite beams were reported since early 19th century itself. Many
aspects of composite structural interaction between steel beams and concrete have been studied
and reported in Canada and elsewhere as early as 1922. These studies relate to the behaviour of

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conventional concrete slab over steel I – beam. Such tests are not considered here for the review.
The tests reported below include information on the composite beams and slabs which use stay-
in-place form.

Concrete frame construction has until recently been traditionally undertaken using plywood
formwork for all structural elements and so no inherent advantages have been achievable during
the construction phase. This has been overcome by the development of composite profiled
beams which employ a permanent formwork system consisting of profiled sheeting for concrete
framed construction.

Chapman.J.C. and Balakrishnan S. (1964)9 earlier investigations started with well known work
on composite beams by the authors who concerned about the shear connectors in the
overhanging region of the simply supported composite beams. They aimed at the sensitivity of
the overall response of the beams with respect to the material strength.

Chapman.J.C.and Yam.L.C.P. (1968)10 presented an iterative numerical model for the inelastic
analysis of simply supported composite beams. The inelasticity of steel concrete and shear
connectors was taken into account for the analysis.

Johnson R.P (1975)29 the initiative for composite construction started by the extensive research
by Dr Chapman and Professor Johnson R, P led to publish a book with a review of behaviour of
composite structure of steel and concrete. In his book he drafted design methods for composite
structures for both building and bridges

Reinhold M.Schuster (1976)40 Reviewed different papers on composite steel deck reinforced
slabs, which are presented by many authors. After the review, R.M.Schuster, mentioned the
various commercially available steel decks and classified them based on their means of
developing shear resistance and on the pattern of mechanical shear transfer devices into three
categories of the decks namely

Steel deck profiles that provide horizontal shear capacity primarily by virtue of
Mechanical shear devices
Steel deck profiles that have a variable spacing of mechanical devices
Steel deck profiles that have no mechanical shear devices

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The author also reported the advantages and possible disadvantages. Even though this paper
dealt with the composite slabs, it was considered as a primary literature for steel concrete
composite systems.

Max L. Porter and Carl. E. Ekberg (1976)33 explained cold formed steel deck sections used in
composite floor slabs. During the construction phase, the steel deck serves as the structural load
carrying element. Design procedures were recommended for composite steel deck-reinforced
floor by utilizing the application of the maximum strength concepts. The design capacity
primarily is based upon the computation of shear bond strength. However the equation for
flexural capacities is also developed from the compatibility of strains and the equilibrium of
internal forces. Additional design considerations are given on casting and shoring requirements,
deflections and span/depth relations.

Deflection limitations follow the provisions of Section 9.5 of the ACI building code. The
recommended effective moment of inertia for composite deck deflection limitations is taken as
simply the average of the standard cracked and uncracked sections.

Singh.R.K. and Mallick. S.K. (1977)43 conducted experiments on 8 composite beams. Four of
them were tested for pure torsion and another four tested for the combination of flexure and
torsion. They presented a formula to find the ultimate torsional strength of the composite beams.
The formula presented was:

Tu = Tcu+Tr+Tj where Tcu, Tr and Tj were the torsional strength contribution by concrete,
reinforcement and joist respectively.

Ray, M.B., and Mallick, S.K. (1980)38 the results of tests on five composite beams, tested to
destruction under combined flexure and torsion, are discussed with reference to earlier published
data1'2. In the tests, the ratios between the bending and torsional moments were maintained
constant. Tri ultimate strengths of the reinforced concrete slab and composite beam are assessed
from tests carried out in simple torsion.

Ansourian.P. (1981)1 six continuous composite beams with compact steel section were tested.
Two beams had limited rotation capacity and were tested under severe sagging rotation
conditions; the other 4 were loaded symmetrically and included cases where local buckling

13
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 the 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.

George Abdel – Sayed (198219 is one of the earliest investigators who used stay-in-place form
for beam construction. The test specimens utilized cold formed steel stiffened channels as part
of the side formwork as well as reinforcement replacing conventional steel bars. Soffits made in
the form of stiffened channels with embossments, performed very well as integral parts of the
composite beam. The combined action of the embossments and the stiffening lead to excellent
bond characteristics between the soffit and the concrete.

The author concludes that replacing the standard reinforcing bars by a cold formed steel section
the structural performance of the beam is unchanged, while saving is achieved in the cost of
forms and shoring.

As per author’s investigations, the beams suggested used the stay-in form only for some portion
of the depth. He suggested removable formwork for the remaining part. This did not result in
full economy of formwork. Furthermore, no significant analytical work was undertaken.

Max L. Porter (1988)34 proposed design criteria for composite steel deck slabs based on
experiments. The author recommended design procedures by utilizing the maximum strength
concepts. For the slabs failing in shear bond failure mode, A plot was made using the
parameters, Vu / bd√fc’, as ordinates and ρd/L’√fc’ as abscissa. A linear regression is then
performed to determine the slope (m) and the intercept (k), in order to provide an equation for
the expected shear capacity.

Vu m d
k fc '
bd L'

Where Vu = Ultimate shear capacity

ρ = reinforcement ratio (As/bd)

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 d = effective depth from the compression fibre to steel deck centroid

fc’ = design concrete compressive strength

For flexure the author suggested separate computations for under reinforced and over reinforced
sections. An effective composite moment of inertia for deflection is taken as a simple average of
the composite moments of inertia of cracked and uncracked sections.

Richard P. Nguyen (1991)41 studied the feasibility of using cold-formed steel channels as
reinforcement for cast-in-place concrete beams. His experimental investigation included 32
beam specimens made of thin-walled, cold-formed steel stiffened channels and concrete
subjected to shear and bending both individually and combined.

From the test results, the authors concluded that, the composite beams developed the same
ultimate strength in bending and shear as conventional RCC beams in addition to economy and
speedy construction. The author has also suggested empirical formulae for predicting the
ultimate bending capacity, shear bond capacity and the combined bending and shear stresses.
Since the conclusions were based on brief test results the author has suggested further study for
checking the reliability of the conclusions. No analytical model was proposed by the author to
quantify the increasing deflection and ductility characteristics.

Deric John Oehlers (1993)13 proposed significant work using profiled sheeting. He performed
an experimental investigation on the strength of composite profiled beams. The author used the
steel profiled sheets as permanent formwork to the sides and bottom of reinforced concrete
beams. Experimental tests on large scale beams by the author showed that the addition of
profiled steel sheets to the sides of RCC beams substantially increases both their flexural and
shear strengths without loss of ductility and that this system is not prone to shear bond failure at
the profiled sheet - concrete interface. The composite strength of the profiled beams depended
primarily on forces normal to the ribs in the side of profiled steel sheets. These normal forces
are induced by the mechanical actions from flexural and shear displacements. Of secondary
importance are the shear bond forces, which only increased the strength slightly. Furthermore,
from theoretical studies the author suggested that the addition of side – profiled sheets
substantially reduce the long term deflections due to creep and shrinkage of the concrete and the
span/depth ratio is increased by about 20% since the depth of the beam is reduced.

15
The author also concluded that the addition of side profiled sheets to the sides of reinforced
concrete beam increased the shear strength and shear ductility. Profiled beams of the same
flexural strength as reinforced concrete beams have a larger shear capacity, and this may allow
reduction in the amount of stirrups required.

Brian. Uy and M.A. Bradford (1993)5 conducted service load tests on profiled composite and
reinforced concrete beams. Tests are reported on two profiled composite steel-concrete beams
and two reinforced concrete beams of the same flexural strength as the profiled beams under
service loads. The beams were monitored under sustained loading for a period of approximately
250 days. Time-dependent deflections and strains in the beams were measured over this period,
as well as the creep co-efficient and shrinkage strains on companion specimens. The results
showed that the time dependent deformations of the profiled composite steel-concrete beams are
significantly less than those of the reinforced concrete beams. The test results are intended to
provide benchmark data for validating theoretical predictions of the deformations of profiled
composite beams under service-load conditions.

Deric J. Oehlers, Howard D. Wright and J. Burnet (1994)14 reported a construction technique
that uses steel decking as permanent and integral shuttering for the sides and soffits of reinforced
concrete beams. The authors conducted experiments on large-scale profiled beams. The authors
predicted that the behaviour of this form of composite construction can be affected by local
buckling of the steel decking and the strength of the shear bond at the interface between the
decking and concrete. Simple design procedures are developed to prevent local buckling of the
steel decking before the ultimate strength of the beam is reached. A new procedure based on
rigid plastic analysis has been derived for determining the flexural strength of composite profiled
beams.

Brian Uy and Mark Andrew Bradford (1995)6 Conducted experiments on ductility of profiled
composite beams. The authors adopted cold-formed profiled steel sheeting as stay-in-place form
for reinforced concrete beam and referred them as Profiled Composite Beams. The study
includes two profiled composite beams and two reinforced concrete beams. All beams were 6m
in length with their cross sections being 290 x 400 mm for profiled beams and 265 x 400mm for
RCC beams. The beams were tested to failure in flexure. Load strain characteristics were
measured for the beams, from which moment – curvature response was obtained. The test

16
results were used to ascertain the flexural strength of the beams and to validate the hypotheses of
the previously reported service load tests. The measured flexural strength of the two profiled
composite and two reinforced concrete beams has been shown to be of the same magnitude.
Thus the authors demonstrated that profiled composite beams are advantageous over reinforced
concrete beams of the same strength for serviceability and long term effects.

Failure is shown to occur progressively through a combination of bond-slip failure and local
buckling of the steel sheeting. Tests highlighted the improved ductility of profiled beams over
reinforced concrete beams. The test results are then used to calibrate a theoretical model for the
cross sectional behaviour of profiled composite beams. Local buckling predicted by the use of a
finite strip method developed elsewhere was found in agreement with the experiments.
Ductility has been identified from moment – curvature plot. However no analytical model was
proposed to quantify the ductility.

Brian Uy and Mark Andrew Bradford (1995)7 investigated an analytical model which is
developed based on the routine mechanics of the materials to study the moment – curvature
response and hence the ductility of a profiled composite beam. The material nonlinearities of the
cold-formed steel and concrete are used to determine an accurate description of the moment-
curvature response. Parametric studies are made on the influence of material strengths and
various cross-section geometries. A numeric integration approach was adopted for the study.

The beam cross section used for the parametric study was 250 x 450mm. From the parametric
study it is understood that the yield stress of the sheeting, area of tension reinforcement and
interfacial slip affected the ductility. The model was shown to agree well for both the linear and
nonlinear ranges of loading. The authors explained that numerical model was applied to a
specific cross section, but the results are general for any cross section.

Ramajeyam.I and Swamidura.A (1997)39 reported on the behaviour of concrete in filled cold
formed steel tubular columns stiffened with weld-mesh. The aim of the investigation is to study
the effect of confinement of concrete in cold formed steel concrete composite columns with
respect to strength and stiffness by conducting experiments on the different types of concrete in
filled cold formed steel tubular columns and cold formed steel hollow columns.

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From the experimental results, the authors concluded that concrete in filled cold formed steel
columns stiffened with weld mesh showed large enhancement of load carrying capacity as
compared to cold formed hollow steel column without infill and can sustain large strains and
deformations. This reserve strength and deformation make them as ideal structural elements in
predicting the theoretical ultimate loads of column which agrees fairly well with results. The
provision of weld mesh stiffness in the columns which improved the bond between concrete and
steel shell has resulted in enhanced ultimate load, ductility and stiffness.

Khandaker M. Anwar Hossain (2003)30 utilized cold formed steel elements for his beam
construction and referred the beam as thin walled Composite (TWC) filled beam. The behaviour
of TWC filled beams with normal and light weight volcanic pumice concrete as infill is reported
from a series of experiments. The performance of the beams with various interface connections
was studied. The strength and failure modes of beams are found to depend on the interface
connections. The effect of various modes of interface connections are co-related to the
generation of shear bond between sheeting and concrete using both experimental and theoretical
results. 24 beams were cast and tested to study the performance of different TWC beams.

The author observed from the test results that the strength of the beams is limited by the
compression buckling capacity of the steel plate at the top of the open box cross section. Further
concluded that the enhancement of the strength can be possible by stiffening the compression
steel plates at the open end of box cross section of various modes interface connections.
Analytical models for the design of beams are developed which are based on the models
proposed by Oehler’s.13. Their performance is validated through experimental results using both
full and partial shear connection. The effect of interface shear bond has been studied by varying
the shear bond stress. The typical effect of this bond stress on strength and the value of concrete
and sheet neutral axis are also presented. Appropriate design recommendations and practical
design charts have been developed by the author so that the designer can check whether the
strength will be governed by buckling or yielding of steel and are able to design the beam
accordingly. For the safe design of TWC beams, guidelines are proposed in using analytical
models.

This work is related significantly to this thesis work. But the beams cast for the investigation
consists of span 600mm, 990mm and 1500mm, from which a real behaviour cannot be judged.

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Except the beam series which had welded braces, others had separation of sheet from concrete.
Hence the author commented that “the braces are essential to avoid separation”.

Slobodan Rankovic And Dragoljub Drenic (2002)44 reviewed the most important analytic
expressions, on the basis of the developed industrial countries contemporary literature, for
determination of strength of shear connectors in steel-concrete composite beams the mechanism
of possible failure and the basic criteria used for defining of the shear connector strength at
composite slabs and composite slabs with profiled sheet. Special analysis has been done in the
expressions and the recommendations given by European 4 in the area of shear connector
strength, both elastic and rigid. Along with the comparative review of the regulation, a
commentary on the strength of the shear connectors in composite beams was given.

Shun-Ichi Nakamura, P.E, (2002)42 reported on bending behaviour of composite girders with
cold formed steel U section. A new type of steel and concrete composite bridge with cold
formed steel U-shape girders, filled with concrete has been proposed. This U girder is cold
formed from a single steel sheet, and the amount of welding required is substantially small and
mass production could be possible. The authors carried out bending tests to investigate the static
bending behaviour of three girder models. The girder model at the span center behaved as a
composite beam. The girder model at the intermediate supports behaved as a prestressed beam
and the filled concrete restricted the local buckling of steel plates in compression. A design
calculation method for the girder section has been proposed assuming the Euler-Bernoulli
principle. For the design the stress of concrete (σ) is assumed to have a parabolic function of
concrete strain (εc) up to 0.002 and to be constant for εc over 0.002.

c c
c 0.85 ck 2 , for c 0.002
0.002 0.002

c 0.85 ck , for c 0.002

Where ck is compressive strength of concrete obtained from sample test.

The ultimate strain is set at 0.0035 for the slab concrete and 0.007 for the filled concrete
considering the confined effect. This method of design was verified by the test results. It is

19
concluded that the proposed bridge system has sufficient bending strength and good deformation
and rotation capacity and it is practical and feasible.

Baskar K. Shanmugam N.E. (2003)4 Details of an experimental investigation on steel–concrete

composite plate girders subject to the combined action of shear and bending are presented in this
paper. Six composite plate girders have been tested to failure in order to study their ultimate load
behaviour. Two different web-depth to thickness (d/t) ratios and two different moment/shear
ratios have been considered. Attention is focused on the variation in tension field action in web
panels due to composite action between the steel girder and concrete slab. Extensive strain
measurements have been made on the web panels in order to obtain a detailed picture of tension
field action. The ultimate load carrying capacity and the tension field width of composite plate
girders are found to increase significantly compared to the bare steel girders.

Jiansheng Fan Jianguo Nie and. Cai C.S. (2004)26 the behaviour of steel-concrete composite
beams under negative bending with different degrees of shear interaction have been investigated
in this paper. A model for predicting the stiffness behaviour of the composite beam under
negative bending at the serviceability limit state was developed. The model considers the slips at
the steel beam-concrete slab interface and concrete reinforcement interface, which explains the
decrease of structural stiffness compared with that based on the theory of full shear interaction. A
series of analytical equation based on this model were derived to calculate the maximum
deflection of a composite beam at working load and different types of loading cases and
boundary condition were considered. Also, a simplified method for calculating the deflection of
cantilever composite beam was established. To verify the reliability of the structural analytical
model and the equations, three beams was tested meanwhile the general purpose FE software
ANSYS was used to investigate the behaviour of composite beam. The non linear property of the
material, crushing of the concrete and slips at the steel and concrete reinforcement interface was
considered the results from testing and FE analysis show that the prediction of the deflection by
the proposed analytical method was sufficiently accurate in designing a cantilever and the
procedure can be used in further study on continuous composite beams. A three dimensional
non-linear Finite Element Analysis was performed using a commercial Finite Element Package
ANSYS to investigate the general behaviour of tested specimens. In this, the brittle property of
concrete is simulated with a solid element that can change its stiffness with the development of

20
cracking and crushing of concrete. The solid 65 element offered by ANSYS can simulate the
non-linear property of concrete. The deformed reinforcement was simulated using LINK 8
element and the steel was simulated using SHELL 63 element. In this the concrete interface
element is a component that transfers the shear force between reinforcement and steel beam, but
will not contribute to the moment of resistance. The bond slip relationship between concrete and
reinforcement was simulated using COMBIN 14 linear spring element. The shear studs were
modeled by non linear spring element COMBIN 39.The results show that slip always exists for
composite beams under negative bending and the slip effects in an additional curvature of the
beam bending and reduces the section stiffness by 10% to 20% with that of a beam without any
slip in serviceability condition. Moreover the results from the Finite Element Analysis agree with
that from experiments in terms of both stiffness and maximum load capacity.

27
Jianguo Nie, Yan Xiao and Lin Chen (2004) static loading were conducted on 16 steel-
concrete composite beams and two steel beams to investigate shear resisting mechanism and the
strength of the composite beams. The main experimental parameters were the shear span aspect
ratio of the simply supported beams and the width and thickness of the concrete flanges. Based
on strain measurements, stress in the steel beam was analyzed using theories of elasticity and
plasticity and the vertical shear that the steel beam resisted was calculated. The shear resistance
of the concrete flange was obtained by subtracting the steel shear contribution from the total load
supplied. It was found to the concrete flange could sustain 33-56% of the total ultimate shear
applied to the composite beam specimens. Contrary to the typical assumption of neglecting the
concrete, shear contribution in most design code and specification. A shear strength equation that
considers the shear contributions of both the steel beam and the concrete flange is proposed.

Kottiswaran N. and Sundarajan.R (2005)31 an experimental investigation on the flexural

behaviour of steel concrete composite beam made up of thin walled cold formed steel was done
by the author. The ultimate strength capacity and the deflection characteristic of the beams were
determined. The results are compared with conventional reinforced concrete beams. The area of
tension steel in the conventional RCC beam was computed and replaced by thin walled cold
formed steel which can produce the same tensile force in the composite beam. The cold formed
steel sheet which was used in tension zone of the beam and effectively bonded with concrete
using shear connectors. The cold formed steel sheets of thickness 1mm and 1.5mm with different

21
cross sections, plain rectangular sheet, and channel section without lip (unstiffened channel).
Channel section with lip (stiffened channel) provided at the bottom as the principal
reinforcement. The moment carrying capacities at failure and first crack were reported. The
following points were concluded, the ultimate load carrying capacity of the composite beam of
channel without lip is lesser than that of control beam because of debonding of web portion of
the channel from concrete. Composite beams undergo more deformation than the conventional
reinforced concrete beam, designed for the same tensile force.

Dennis Lam and Ehab El-Lobody (2005)12 in composite beam design, headed stud shear
connectors are commonly used to transfer longitudinal shear forces across the steel Concrete
interface. Present knowledge of the load, slip behaviour and the shear capacity of the shear stud
in the composite beam are limited to data obtained from the experimental push-out tests. For this
purpose, an effective numerical model using the finite element method to simulate the push-out
test was proposed. The model has validated against test results and compared with data given in
the current code of practices, i.e., BS5950, EC4, and AISC. Parametric studies using the model
were performed to investigate variation in concrete strength and shear stud diameter. The finite
element models provided a better understanding to the different modes of failure observed during
experimental testing and hence shear capacity of headed shear studs in solid concrete slabs.

Thenmozhi. R and Sundararajan R. (2005)49 the author investigated the behaviour of Thin
Walled Steel Stiffened Concrete Composite beams with normal concrete as infill. The test
reports were used to ascertain the flexural strength of beams. Specimens of Cold-formed sheeting
coupons and reinforcing steel bars are tested in tension to ascertain their Yield stress and elastic
modulus. Comparison charts for load-deflection, load-strain and moment-curvature were
drawn. Analytical models for the ultimate moment were developed using rigid plastic analysis
and their performance is validated through experimental results.

Their analytical work includes the derivation of equations for determining the neutral axis.
Percentage of Composite action as a representative of degree of shear connection is evaluated.
Results from tests indicated that braces in the pure bending region delayed the separation of
sheet from concrete. Closer spacing of braces in the pure bending region does not show
significant influence in the ultimate moment. Thus the braces at the spacing of least lateral

22
dimension holds good for the confinement. Ultimate load carrying capacity for all the beams is
almost same for both full and partial shear connection.

Hyung-Joon Ahn and Soo-Hyun Ryu (2006)21 this study suggests modular composite beams,
where the prefab concept is applied to existing composite profile beams. The prefab concept
produces a beam a desired size of having two types of profile: side module and bottom module.
Module section found to improve construction efforts because it offers several benefits:
reduction of deflection due to creep and shrinkage, which might be found in existing composite
profile beams; increase in span/depth ratio; and free prefabrication of any required beams. Based
on the established analysis theory of composite profile beams, an analysis theory of modular
composite profile beam was suggested and analysis values were compared with experimental
ones. The behaviour of individual modules with increase of load was measured with a strain
gauge and the shear connection ratio between modules was analyzed by using the measured
values. As a result of experiment, it was found that theoretical flexural strength on condition of
full connection was 57%-80% by connection of modules for each specimen and it is expected
that the flexural strength will approximate the theoretical levels through further module
improvement.

Arivalagan Soundarajan, Kandasamy Shanmugasundaram (2008)3 this paper presented an

experimental study of normal mix, fly ash, quarry waste and low strength concrete (brick-bat
lime concrete) contribution to the ultimate moment capacity of square steel hollow sections.
Fifteen simply supported beams specimens of 1200-mm long steel hollow sections filled with
normal mix, fly ash, quarry waste and low strength concrete and identical dimension of hollow
section were experimented. Extensive measurements of such material properties, strain and
deflection were carried out. Theoretical studies of ultimate moment capacity of a beam specimen
were also calculated in this study for comparisons sake. These experimental investigation results
showed that the normal mix, fly ash, quarry waste and low strength concrete enhance the
moment carrying capacity of steel hollow sections. Furthermore, in these studies it can be found
that normal mix, fly ash and quarry waste concrete can be used in composite construction to
increase the flexural capacity of steel hollow sections.

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Jianguo Nie, Liang Tang, and Cai C.S (2009)28 Eleven steel-concrete composite beams, four
under pure torsion, and seven under combined bending and torsion were tested to study their
torsional behaviours. Torsion-dominated and bending-dominated failure modes were observed,
depending on the ratio between the applied bending and torsional moments. Testing results also
showed that the reinforced concrete slab contributes mainly to the torsional resistance of
composite beams and the contribution of steel joists to torsion is negligible. However, the steel
joist plays a vital role in restraining the concrete slab from deforming longitudinally, which
enhances the torsional strength of the concrete slab. Based on the experimental observations, a
three-dimensional behavioural truss model capable of analyzing composite beam sections
subjected to the combined bending and torsion was presented. In this model, the section is
subjected to one- and two-dimensional stresses separately. The former resists the longitudinal
stresses due to bending and torsion while the latter resists the shear stresses due to torsion. These
two systems are related based on the compatibility of strains and the equilibrium of stresses in
the longitudinal direction. The results predicted with this method are in good agreement with
those obtained from the tests. Additionally, the interaction between bending and torsional
strengths was discussed.

48
Szilvia Erdélyi and László Dunai The Authors performed an experimental study on a special
type of composite connection of a thin-walled beam to concrete deck. The behaviour of the shear
connectors are tested by standard push-out tests, considering several parameters such as

– fastening mode
– type and the geometry of screw
– the arrangement of trapezoidal sheeting
– the geometry of steel components and the effect of the reinforcement
The failure modes are observed and classified, according to the specialties of the behaviour of
thin-walled structures. From the measured data, the load-displacement relationships are
determined and the design values of the stiffness, resistance and ductility are calculated.

2.2 STUDIES ON CONFINEMENT

This thesis uses a beam system which has cold formed sheet as both formwork and
reinforcement. As the sheet encloses the concrete in all three sides, the sheet gives partial

24
confinement which is expected to enhance the compressive strength of concrete. Hence the
works related to confined concrete are discussed in this section.

Soliman M.T.M. and .Yu C.W. (1967)45 presented an extensive experimental study on confined
concrete. They have developed the flexural stress-strain relationship of concrete confined by
rectangular transverse reinforcement. To understand the plastic deformation capacity of critical
regions reinforced with longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, it was felt that the stress-strain
relationship of bound concrete in flexure must first be established. 16 specimens were tested by
the authors in a specially constructed testing frame under the action of a major and minor load.
The stress-strain relationship for the concrete was obtained by an approach similar to that used
by Hognestad, Hanson and McHenry in conjunction with a special graphical interpolation
technique. A generalized relationship was finally reported as a function of the spacing of binder,
the ratio of the bound area to the total are under compression, the size of the binders, and the
shape of the concrete cross section. The authors suggested a parameter (q”) which refers to the
effectiveness of the transverse reinforcement given as

Ab
1.4 As " S o S
Ac
q"
As " S 0.0028 BS 2

where Ab – area of bound concrete under compression

Ac – area of concrete under compression
As” – sectional area of transverse reinforcement
S0 – longitudinal spacing at which transverse reinforcement is not effective
in confining the concrete
S – Longitudinal spacing of transverse reinforcement
B – b1 or 0.7d1, whichever is the greater

47
Sundara Raja Iyengar K.T., Prakash Desayi , and Nagi Reddy (1970) reported on stress-
strain characteristics of concrete confined by steel binder. In this investigation, the authors
reported that the ductility of concrete can be increased by confinement. The author presented the
results of axial compression tests on the specimens in whom the variables were: the strength of
the concrete, the size and shape of the test specimen and diameter and the type of spiral wire are

25
different. A new factor called the confinement index is introduced to define the confinement
quantitatively as follows:

fy
Confinement index = b b
f c'

Here fy - yield strength of steel binder

f’c - ultimate strength of plain concrete specimen

b
- Particular volumetric ratio, i.e. value of b when the pitch of the binder is equal

to the least lateral dimension.

b - Volumetric ratio, i.e. ratio of the volume of binder to the volume of

the confined concrete

The authors concluded that ultimate strengths and strains increase with confinement and linearly
with the confinement index. Confinement is found to be effective only when the pitch of
binders is less than the least lateral dimension of the confined specimen. Of the three types of
binders studied – circular spirals, square spirals and stirrups – the first was the most effective
while the last was least effective. The mechanics of the action of steel binders and a similarity
between the confining effects of steel binders and of hydrostatic pressure are discussed.

Mander J.B...Priestley M.J.N and Park R (1988)32 developed a theoretical stress-strain model
for confined concrete. Tests have shown that strength enhancement from confinement and the
slope of the descending branch of the concrete stress strain curve have a considerable influence
on the flexural strength and ductility of reinforced concrete columns. In this, a stress-strain
model was developed for concrete confined by transverse reinforcement subjected to uniaxial
compressive loading. They concluded that the form of stress-strain curve for confined concrete is
expressed in terms of simple uniaxial relation suggested only requires three control parameters.
Unloading and reloading curves can be developed for the cyclic loading response. Reinforced

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concrete members with axial compression forces are confined by using transverse steel to
enhance the member strength in ductility.

Mohd..M.Ziara, Haldane D and Kuttab A.S (1993)35 presented a paper on shear and flexural
strengths resulting from confinement of the compression region in circular section structural
concrete beams, The program of experimental work included eight 200mm diameter beams
traditionally designed to resist shear; however, the stirrups configuration in several of the beams
were determined by the shapes of the compressive force path. It was concluded that the
enhancement of the concrete strength in the compression regions due to the confining influence
of the stirrups offsets the reduction in the flexural capacity of the beams due to shear effects.
The flexural capacity and ductility of the beams resulting from confinement were found to be
higher than the corresponding traditionally detailed beams. The experimental results indicated
that the ductility and strength of these beams were more than 50% and up to 32% (depending on
the level of confinement) greater than found in beams detailed according to current code
provisions.

Mohamed M.ziara, David Haldane and Atallah S.Kuttab (1993)36 presented a paper on flexural
behaviour of beams with confinement. The principal aim of the paper is to examine both
theoretically and experimentally, the flexural behaviour of concrete beams in which confinement
stirrups were introduced in the compression zone.

The experimental investigation included 12 under reinforced beams, eight of which had concrete
compression regions, as defined by the compression force path (CFP) concept, confined with
rectangular closed stirrups. The remaining beams were traditionally detailed beams. The
presence of confinement was shown to increase the ductility of the beam, however no
comparable increase was found in their respective flexural capacities. A method for the
evaluation of the flexural capacity of beams in which confinement of the compression regions is
present has been proposed. A method for the design of over reinforced beams utilizing the
ductility resulting from confinement has also been outlined and investigated experimentally
using four types of over reinforced beams selected from another extensive test program.

Ferhun.C.Caner, and Zdenek P.Bazant (2002)18 reported on lateral confinement needed to

suppress softening of concrete in compression. This is proposed to avoid brittle character of

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collapse. To this end the recently developed “tube squash” tests, in which a short concrete filled
steel tube is squashed to about a half of its original length and allowed to bulge are conducted
with cubes of different wall thicknesses. The purpose of enhancing concrete columns in tubes is
to ensure ductility. A finite strain finite element computer code with a micro plane constitutive
model is used to stimulate the tests. After its verification and calibration of tests the code is used
to analyze non-buckling concrete filled tubular columns and spirally reinforced columns. It is
found that softening in the load deflection diagram can be fully suppressed only if the
reinforcement ratio (ratio of the tube volume or spiral volume to the total volume of column)
exceeds about 14%. If mild softening is allowed, the reinforcement ratio must still exceed about
8%. The ratios are surprisingly high. If they are not used in design, one need to pay attention to
the localization of softening damage, accept the (deterministic) size effect engendered by it, and
ensure safety margins appropriate for protecting against sudden explosive brittle collapse. This is
of particular concern for the design of very large columns.

Wu Y.F., M.C.Griffith and D.J.Oehlers (2003)50 conducted experiments to improve the strength
and ductility of rectangular reinforced concrete columns through composite partial interaction.
By increasing the compressive strength of concrete columns, through composite partial
interaction such as by bolting a steel plate to the compression face of a column, this new
composite action approach is shown to successfully delay concrete crushing in the plastic hinge
zone. The experimental results confirm theoretical predictions that composite partial interaction
can be used to increase either the strength or ductility (or both) of concrete columns. This
technique in its current form would be applicable primarily to columns subject to one-way
bending. The author also commented that “further research is under two-way bending.

2.3. STUDIES ON FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURES

Sreekanta Das and Muhamed. Hadi N.S., (1996)46 analysed R.C.C. members using
MSC/NASTRAN. They found out that the difficulty in modelling the concrete behaviour was
due to the strain-softening behaviour of concrete once it was yielded. They discussed briefly the
modelling procedures for R.C.C. Shallow beams in MSC/NASTRAN.

Antonio F. Barbosa and Gabriel O. Ribeiro (1998) 2 investigated the possibilities of performing
non-linear finite element models in the analysis of R.C.C. structures. The authors used finite

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element code ANSYS, version 5.3. Solid elements have been used in beam modelling to support
concrete. Each mesh has been analysed four times, according to four different materials models
namely, linear elastic and crushing capability, elastic perfectly plastic, multilinear work
hardening along with crushing capability. The results of the analysis performed have been
compared to a load – deflection curve derived from an analytically determined moment –
curvature relationship. The authors concluded that only nonlinear stress strain relations for
concrete in compression have made it possible to reach the ultimate load and determine the entire
load – deflection diagram.

Fanning.P. (2001)17 discussed about the numerical models adopted in ANSYS to find out non-
linear response of concrete under loading and recommended appropriate numerical modeling
strategy for Reinforced Cement Concrete and post-tensioned Concrete beams. Finite element
models of 3m ordinary reinforced concrete beams and 9m post-tensioned concrete beams
constructed in ANSYS V5.5.The dedicated concrete element have accurately captured the
nonlinear response of these systems up to failure. The dedicated element employs a smeared
crack model to allow for concrete cracking with the option of modeling the reinforcement in a
distributed or discrete manner. The author used the typical concrete element in ANSYS, Solid
65 for the analysis.

In conclusion the dedicated smeared crack model is an appropriate numerical model for
capturing the flexural modes of failure of reinforced concrete systems. Comparisons with
experimental load-deflection responses are discussed for ordinary reinforced concrete beams and
Post-tensioned concrete beams.

Damian Kachlakev, Thomas Miller and Solomon Yim (2001) 11In their thesis ‘Finite Element
Modeling of Concrete Structures Strengthened with FRP Laminates’ to simulate the behaviour of
four full-size beams from linear through nonlinear response and up to failure, using the ANSYS
program was done. An eight-node solid element solid 65 was used to model the concrete. A
layered solid element, Solid46 was used to model the FRP composites. An eight-node solid
element, Solid45 was used for the steel plates at the supports in the beam models. Link8 – 3-D
span element was used to model the steel reinforcement. By taking advantage of the symmetry of
the beams, a quarter of the full beam was used for modeling. Ideally, the bond strength between
the concrete and steel reinforcement should be considered. However, in this study perfect bond

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between materials was assumed. To provide the perfect bond the link element for the steel
reinforcing was connected between nodes of each adjacent concrete solid element so that the two
materials shared the same nodes. The same approach was adopted for FRP composites.

The general behaviour of the finite element models represented by the load-deflection plots at
midspan show good agreement with the test data from the full-scale beam tests. However the
finite element models show slightly more stiffness than the test data in both the linear and
nonlinear ranges. The effects of bond- slip (between the concrete and steel reinforcing) and
micro cracks occurring in the actual beams were excluded in the finite element models,
contributing to the higher stiffness of the finite element models. Comparisons between the
experimental data and the results from finite element models showed good agreement and the
different failure mechanisms from ductile to brittle were simulated.

Dennis Lam, Ehab Ellobody A, (2005)15 the authors investigated the structural performance of
shear connection in composite beams with profiled steel sheeting. An accurate and efficient
nonlinear finite element model was developed to study the behaviour of headed stud shear
connectors welded through-deck. The profiled steel sheeting had transverse ribs perpendicular to
the steel beam. The material nonlinearities of concrete, headed stud, profiled steel sheeting,
reinforcement and steel beam were included in the finite element model. The capacity of shear
connection, load–slip behaviour of the headed stud and failure modes were predicted. The results
obtained from the finite element analysis were verified against experimental results. An
extensive parametric study was conducted to study the effects on the capacity and behaviour of
shear connection by changing the profiled steel sheeting, geometries, the diameter and height of
the headed stud as well as the strength of concrete.

Queiroz F.D. Vellasco. P. (2006)37 the authors investigated on the evaluation of full and partial
shear connection in composite beams using the commercial finite element (FE) software
ANSYS. The proposed three-dimensional FE model was able to simulate the overall flexural
behaviour of simply supported composite beams subjected to either concentrated or uniformly
distributed loads. Load deflection behaviour, longitudinal slip at the steel–concrete interface,
distribution of stud shear force and failure modes are studied with ANSYS software. The
reliability of the model is demonstrated by comparisons with experiments and with alternative
numerical analysis. The authors performed parametric study using the calibrated FE model.

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Elastic-plastic shell (SHELL43) for steel, solid (SOLID65) elements for the concrete slab and
nonlinear springs (COMBIN39) to represent the shear connectors were used in the analysis. The
authors concluded that the continuation of the shear connection beyond the beam supports of
simply supported beams can affect not only the overall system response, but also the slip and the
stud force distributions along the beam.

2.4 CRITICAL REVIEW

The earlier investigations indicates the advantages of cold formed steel decks sections and
development of steel stiffened channel as part of side formwork as well reinforcement replacing
conventional steel bars. Then came into picture profiled composite beam where steel profiled
sheets as permanent form work to the sides and bottom of RCC beams. It was seen that the
flexural and shear strength increases in this beams without loss of ductility and is not prone to
shear bond failure at the profiled steel concrete interfaces. In Hossain’s30 work he studied the
flexural strength and failure modes of TWC filled beams. In Thenmozhi’s48 work in addition to
flexural strength of composite beams with plain cold formed sheet elements subjected to pure
bending and deflection ductility aspects are studied.

However no specific work has been done so far for the composite beam shuttered with plain cold
formed steel sheeting subjected to pure torsion and combined bending and torsion. Experimental
studies dealing with above characteristics are scant. And also no specific guidance for the design
of confined steel concrete composite beams is available in Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Before a design procedure can be formulated, it is essential to obtain a better understanding for
the behaviour of composite beam under pure bending, pure torsion, and combined bending and
torsion. Hence an extensive experimental programme on the behaviour under combined loading
is considered as research gap and it is hoped that this investigation will make a contribution to
that end.

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