Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Constructional Steel Research

Static and fatigue behavior of shear connectors for a

steel-concrete composite girder
Wenqin Deng a, Yingqian Xiong a, Duo Liu b,c, Jiandong Zhang a,⁎
a
School of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
b
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
c
Jiangsu Transportation Research Institute, Nanjing, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As the key part of a steel-concrete composite bridge, the mechanical properties shear connectors that have direct
Received 25 December 2018 impacts on the bearing capacity of the whole bridge. Angle connectors and twin-perfobond rib (T-PBL) connec-
Received in revised form 16 April 2019 tors are commonly used in long-span steel-concrete composite bridges. Considering the convenience of construc-
Accepted 17 April 2019
tion, a new type of shear connector, the channel connector, is proposed. Push-out tests on three groups of 12
Available online 29 April 2019
shear connector specimens under monotonic and repeated loads were carried out, and the static and fatigue be-
Keywords:
havior of the three different shear connectors were compared and analyzed. The results show that the ultimate
Steel-concrete composite bridges bearing capacity of channel connectors is the largest, while that for the angle connectors is the second largest
Shear connectors and that for T-PBL connectors is the smallest. With the increase in cyclic loading times, the ratio of residual defor-
Push-out test mation to plastic deformation shows a significant upward trend. The deformation recovery ability of the speci-
Monotonic loading mens decreases gradually, and the stiffness deteriorates continuously. The stiffness degradation of channel
Repeated loading connectors is the slowest, and the stiffness degradation of angle connectors and T-PBL connectors is faster. The
energy dissipation of T-PBL connectors is the largest, while the energy dissipation of angle and channel connec-
tors is the same. The channel connectors proposed in this paper can be used as good shear connectors in steel-
concrete composite bridges because of their strength improvement and their certain energy dissipation capacity.
In addition, the 3D non-linear finite element models based on the three kinds of shear connectors is established to
simulate the whole loading process by using the general finite element software ABAQUS. The results of finite el-
ement analysis are in good agreement with the experimental results, which can be used as a powerful supple-
ment to the experimental research.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In steel-concrete composite structures the advantages of steel and
concrete can be fully utilized, and shear connectors are directly related
to the bearing capacity of the whole composite girder as the key part
of the stress [1,2]. To ensure the rationality of design and the safe oper-
ation of bridges, it is very urgent and necessary to study the mechanical
properties of shear connectors [3,4]. Shear connector forms can be di-
vided into three types: flange type, embedded type and composite
type [5,6]. Embedded connectors are seldom used in medium or long-
span structures because of their inconvenience in construction. Flange
connectors are very popular among bridge designers due to their good
bearing capacity, shear rigidity and convenient construction [7,8].
Flange connectors mainly include stud connectors, angle connectors
and PBL connectors, and stud connectors and PBL connectors have
been the most studied to date.
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhangjd@njtech.edu.cn (J. Zhang).
Stud connectors are widely used in bridges with smaller spans, and
scholars have conducted many studies on them [9]. Viest et al. [10]
discussed the shear performance of stud connectors through push-out
tests and gave the formula for calculating their shear capacities. Ollgaard
and Slutter et al. [11] carried out push-out tests with 48 groups of em-
bedded connectors and put forward the formula for the shear capacity
of these connectors. The experiments show that the shear strength of
embedded connectors is mainly affected by the compressive strength
and elastic modulus of concrete. Li et al. [12] studied the shear resistance
of studs in high strength and normal strength concrete, and the push-
out test results showed that the concrete compression strength signifi-
cantly affects the strength of the stud connections. Classen et al. [13]
proposed models for the calculation of the slip capacity and the descrip-
tion of the shear-slip characteristic. The proposed models can be used
for the characterization of the composite dowels' deformation capacity.
Koop et al. [14] presented background information to the static design
concept for composite dowels with clothoidal and puzzle shape regu-
lated in the general technical approval, and additionally presented the
design formula for longitudinal static shear resistance. Dudzinski et al.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2019.04.031
0143-974X/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146
[15–17] presented the newest studies concerning fatigue durability of
composite dowel shear connectors, and proved that the technology of
fabrication of steel part can significantly affect fatigue lifespan of com-
posite beam with shear connection with composite dowels. Gattesco
et al. [18,19] and Johnson et al. [20] analyzed the fatigue properties of
stud connectors under monotonic and cyclic loading with only four
sets of specimens. Shim et al. [21] and Nguyen et al. [22] studied the
key parameters of the shear capacity and mechanical properties of
large stud connectors through push-out tests and numerical simula-
tions, and they pointed out that the calculation of bearing capacity for
large stud connectors in Eurocode 4 was too conservative.
There are many factors affecting the shear capacity of perfobond rib
(PBL) connectors. Scholars have carried out many experiments, as well
as theoretical research, on their bearing capacity, and they have pro-
posed different calculation methods. Oguejiofor et al. [23–25] studied
the shear performance of PBL connectors based on the push-out test
and analyzed the influence of hole-spacing, number of holes, concrete
strength and other parameters on the shear capacity of PBL connectors
and put forward a formula for calculating the shear capacity of PBL con-
nectors using a regression analysis method. Kang et al. [26] and
Cândido-Martins et al. [27] compared the difference between the calcu-
lation formula and the test results for PBL connectors when considering
and not considering the end concrete compression and proposed differ-
ent formulas for the shear strength considering the layout and number
of holes in a perforated steel plate. The test results show that the single
plate bearing capacity of twin-perfobond rib (T-PBL) connectors is re-
duced to approximately 80% of that of S-PBL connectors. Su et al.
[28,29] revealed the mechanical properties of PBL connectors through
push-out tests, studied the influence of strength of a penetrating steel
bar and concrete on their shear capacities, and presented an empirical
expression for the shear strength of PBL connectors based on a numer-
ical regression analysis method. Gu et al. [30] proposed a comb-type
perfobond rib shear connector, and investigated its mechanical property
of shear resistance through experimental and numerical methods. The
results showed that this kind of shear connector has better shear capac-
ity than conventional ones.
Compared with traditional stud connectors, angle connectors and
PBL connectors have the advantages of high shear strength, high bearing
capacity and good ductility. However, the bearing capacity, shear stiff-
ness, seismic resistance and fatigue performance of angle connectors
and PBL connectors have not been clearly defined in national codes.
Therefore, to ensure the safety of the structure in the project, there is
no choice but to adopt safety factors that are too high, which leads to
a reduction in the practicability of the material. For the convenience of
construction and to reduce welding quantity, a new type of channel
connector is proposed. Based on the shear connectors of a bridge, the
push-out tests of 1:1 models are performed under static and repeated
loads to analyze the mechanical properties of angle connectors, channel
connectors and T-PBL connectors under these different conditions.
2. Experimental tests
2.1. Test specimen
Based on the size of the shear connectors and the design require-
ments of a bridge, 1:1 full-scale specimens are used in this test. Three
groups of connector specimens were designed including angle connec-
tors, channel connectors and T-PBL connectors, and there were 4 speci-
mens per group. In order to eliminate the accidental error of test results
under monotonic loading system, three monotonic loading tests and
one repeated loading test were conducted in each group. In addition, a
comparative analysis of the finite element model was carried out to fur-
ther verify the reliability of the test results. The parameters of the
specimens are shown in Table 1, and the sizes and structures of the
specimens are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
135
Table 1
Parameters of push-out specimens.
Type of specimen Code Load method Number
Angle connector JG-1–3 Monotonic load 3
JG-D Repeated load 1
Channel connector CG-1–3 Monotonic load 3
CG-D Repeated load 1
T-PBL connector TP-1–3 Monotonic load 3
TP-D Repeated load 1
2.2. Material properties
The steel structure material is steel Q345B with a yield strength
of 400 MPa, ultimate strength of 520 MPa and elastic modulus
of 2.1 × 10 5 MPa. Concrete cubic blocks with specifications of
100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm were poured, and their
strength grade was C50. The concrete and specimens were cured
at the same time, and the compressive strength of 28-day-old con-
crete was 40.26 MPa. The reinforcing bars used in the specimens
were constructional steel bar Ф10 in concrete and penetrating
steel bar Ф25 in shear connectors (all of which are HRB335), with
tensile strengths of 570 MPa, respectively.
2.3. Specimen manufacturing
As shown in Fig. 3, the steel components of the specimens include
angle, channel and perforated steel plate. All of these components
were manufactured in the factory (Tunnel and bridge of China). The
main programs include: lofting, blanking, drilling holes, cutting, cold-
bending forming, welding, etc. The steel components of three shear con-
nectors were welded in the I-beam flange with three 20 mm thick steel
plates that were used for the compression plates.
The steel components of the specimens were transported from the
factory to the Structure Laboratory of the Southeast University (Nanjing,
China) and assembled with concrete. The construction sequence was as
follows: erection of the bottom formwork, positioning of the steel com-
ponents and assembling so it is reinforced, pouring concrete and strip-
ping followed by curing for 28 days.
2.4. Test setup and measurements
The test setup is illustrated in Fig. 4 (a). A YE-10000kN hydraulic
testing machine with four pillars is used to control the load levels. The
absorption of any concrete bottom face imperfections was achieved
with fine sand placed at the base of the specimen. The relevant data
for the test were monitored by the data-collection system shown in
Fig. 4 (b).
Four linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) are used to
measure the concrete slab and steel profile's relative displacement and
uplift, which were fixed at the steel section web on the two sides of
the specimen, and four angle plates are glued onto the concrete slab
below where the LVDTs' pointer is put, as shown in Fig. 5.
2.5. Test loading
The test loading methods include two types: monotonic loading and
repeated loading. Before the test loading, the load carrying capacity of
the specimen is first estimated using the finite element analysis soft-
ware ABAQUS. In the beginning, 40% of the ultimate load is preloaded
onto the specimen to check the loading system and eliminate any
gaps in the test setup. For monotonic loading, the formal loading was di-
vided into two levels by force control and displacement control. In this
process, the specimen was first loaded to the yield state by force control
using 5% of the ultimate load per step and then loaded to the failure
state by displacement control with 1 mm per step, as shown in Fig. 6
136 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146

Fig. 1. Dimension of specimens (Unit: mm).

(a). For repeated loading, the specimen was first loaded to the loading
level by force control with 5% of the ultimate load then unloaded to 0
kN. This procedure was repeated three times until the yield state was
reached. Then, the specimen was loaded to the failure state by a multi-
ple of yield displacement control per step, and this was also repeated
three times per step. This process is shown in Fig. 6 (b).
section characteristics. In the model test of T-PBL connectors, cush-
ion blocks are placed at the bottom of concrete to eliminate the end
pressure of T-PBL. In the finite element model of T-PBL connector,
the corresponding position of the T-PBL at the bottom of concrete
is slotted.

3. Finite element model 3.1. Constitutive model

According to the size, material properties and loading system of the
specimens in the model test, the simulation models of the above three
groups of specimens are established by using ABAQUS. Two models
for each group were used to simulate monotonic loading and repeated
loading respectively. The failure modes of the specimens and the load-
displacement curves under different loading regimes are analyzed and
compared with the test results to verify the accuracy of the model test
and the reliability of the finite element calculation results.
Both concrete and steel plates adopt C3D8R, an eight-node
three-dimensional solid element with reduced-integration format.
A two-node 3D truss element T3D2 is selected for all reinforcing
bars. The real steel bar section is simulated by giving the element
An elastic-plastic double-fold line model is used for the constitutive
relationship of steel plate and steel bar. The slope of the first rising sec-
tion of the broken line is the elastic modulus of the steel, and the second
rising section is the strengthening section of the steel, as shown in Fig. 7
(a). The constitutive equation of steel can be seen in Eq. (1), where
fyr and εy correspond to the yield strength and yield strain of steel, fstr
is the ultimate strength of steel, εu is the peak strain of steel correspond-
ing to fstr, and εu = 0.01.
The plastic damage model is adopted for concrete, and the uniaxial
stress-strain relationship is based on the curve recommended in Appen-
dix C.2.3 of GB 50010–2010 Code for Design of Concrete Structures [31],
as shown in Fig. 7(b). The constitutive equation of concrete is shown in

Fig. 2. Push-out test layout of specimens.

 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146 137

Fig. 3. Test specimen manufacturing process.

Eq. (2). 8
> ρc n
< 1− x≤1
n−1 þ xn
8 dc ¼ ρc ð3Þ
< Es εs ≤εy >
: 1− xN1

 2
αc ðx−1Þ þ x
σ s ¼ f y þ k εs −εy εy bεs ≤εu ð1Þ
:
0 εs Nεu
εc
Where ρc ¼ Ecf εc c, n ¼ Ec εEcc− f
, x ¼ εεc and dc is the damage evolution pa-
c

rameter of concrete under uniaxial compression.

f st − f y
Where, k ¼ εu −εy and k is the slope of strengthening section.
3.2. Meshing

σ ¼ ð1−dc ÞEC ε ð2Þ Dividing mesh is an important step affecting the accuracy of finite el-
ement analysis results and the efficiency of calculation. Therefore, the

Fig. 4. Push-out test layout.

138 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146
Fig. 5. Layout of LVDTs.
reasonable mesh form and size should be determined to ensure that the
shape of the element is regular and to avoid the occurrence of deformed
elements. Structured meshing technology is used for concrete cube and
rebar. When dividing the grids of steel members, the components are
divided into several simple areas to get the regular elements.
3.3. Contact interaction
Rebar and concrete are embedded to simulate the bond relationship
between them. Contact pairs are defined between steel plate and con-
crete. The normal interface between steel plate and concrete adopts
“hard” contact, and the contact elements transfer interface contact pres-
sure p. The tangential bond slip of steel-concrete interface is modeled by
Coulomb friction, as shown in Fig. 8. Shear stress can be transferred be-
tween steel-concrete interfaces, and relative sliding occurs when the
critical value τcrit is reached. In the calculation of sliding, ABAQUS uses
a “penalty” friction formula that allows “elastic sliding”. The relationship
between critical shear stress and normal pressure at the interface is
shown in Fig. 9, which can be expressed as:
τcrit ¼ μ  p≥τbond
where μ is the friction coefficient of steel-concrete interface, which
ranges from 0.2–0.6 [32].
3.4. Load and boundary condition
The uniform load in the vertical direction (direction Z) is applied to
the top of I-steel in the same way as the test. In the boundary condition,
in order to eliminate the rigid body displacement of the model, the
translations of I-shaped steel face 1 and face 2 in both directions of XY
are restrained. Consolidation constraint is adopted at the bottom of con-
crete cube. The finite element model is shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 6. Diagram of loading method.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Failure mode
Fig. 11 compared the failure modes of the specimens simulated by
the finite element method with those of the tests. It can be seen that
the deformation results obtained by the two methods coincide with
each other. Through the static load test of the specimens, it is found
that the failure process of the shear connectors can be basically divided
into three stages: the joint working stage of steel and concrete, the ini-
tial cracking stage, the crack developing stage and the failure stage. The
followings are descriptions of the experimental phenomena in accor-
dance with the failure stage.
(1) The joint working stage.
During the initial loading period, the stress and strain of the speci-
mens are very small. No cracks were found before T-PBL connectors,
angle steel connectors and channel steel connectors were loaded to
about 30–50% of the ultimate load respectively. It can be regarded as
the joint working stage of steel members and concrete.
ð4Þ
(2) The initial cracking stage.
The deformation of specimens is in the stage of linear elasticity. Be-
cause of the poor plasticity of concrete, the first micro-crack appears in
the specimen when the load is increased to about 30% - 50% of the ulti-
mate load, and several similar cracks subsequently appeared. When the
three Twin-PBL connectors are loaded to 33%, 34% and 31% of the ulti-
mate load respectively, transverse cracks appear in the middle of the
specimen. When three angle steel connectors are loaded to 42%, 39%
and 38% of the ultimate load respectively, two corresponding transverse
micro-cracks appear in the middle at the two sides of the specimens.
When three channel steel connectors are loaded to 55%, 58% and 52%
 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146
Fig. 7. Stress-strain relationship.
of the load respectively, oblique cracks appear in the lower part of the
specimens.
(3) The crack developing stage.
With the increase of load, the vertical cracks near the connection be-
tween concrete and I-beam increase gradually, and the cracks that have
appeared develop rapidly. As the load continues to increase, the vertical
crack extends slowly and the width of oblique crack widens. At this
stage, the working characteristic of shear connectors is working with
cracks, and the steel and the concrete can still work together.
(4) The failure stage.
When the load is about 80%–90% of the ultimate load, no new cracks
are found in the three types of shear connectors. Vertical cracks develop
and the width of each crack increases. Horizontal cracks and vertical
cracks at the horizontal limbs of angle steel and channel steel penetrate,
and bond slip occurs between concrete and steel. With noise, steel and
concrete cannot work together. The followings are a detailed analysis
of the failure modes of three types of connectors.
Two types of failures are indicated in the push-out specimens. The
first type is the connector fracture and the other is concrete slab
crushing-splitting. The concrete cracking of specimens under mono-
tonic loading showed a distinctive similarity with some cracks near
the connector. When the load increased, the cracks opened more and
progressed along the concrete slab. In the bearing capacity stage, an
angle fracture was found on the angle connector, and the channel con-
nector was clearly deformed. In addition, the perforated rebar of the
Fig. 8. Coulomb friction model.
139
PBL connector exhibited a bending deformation. Although similar
types of failures were seen in both monotonic and repeated loading
for all connectors, the concrete cracks under repeated loading were
wider than under monotonic loading.
4.2. Load-relative slip curves
4.2.1. Monotonic loading
The test results under monotonic loading are shown in Table 2, and
Fig. 12 shows the comparison between the calculated and experimental
load-slip curve of the connector. Py is the yield load and Py is its average
value; δy is the yield displacement, Pmax is the maximum load andPmax is
its average value. δmax is the maximum displacement, Pu is the ultimate
load and Pu is its average value. δu is the ultimate displacement, and μ =
δu/δy is the ductility coefficient. It can be seen from the figure that the
trend of displacement with load calculated by finite element method
is the same as that of test results. However, there are some differences
in numerical values between them. In the finite element analysis, the
bond between steel bar and concrete is simulated by embedded
method, which cannot simulate the slip of steel bar. In the test, the
bond-slip relationship between steel plate and concrete is more com-
plex, so it is difficult to accurately simulate the bond-slip relationship
through simple friction relationship. From Fig. 12, it can be seen that
the load-displacement curves at the initial stage of loading are linear.
The increment of the displacement is small, the increase in load is
large and the specimen is in the elastic stage. After loading to the yield
load, the specimens enter the elastic-plastic stage in which load
Fig. 9. Relationship between critical shear stress and normal pressure at the interface.
140 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146

Fig. 10. FE model of specimens.

Fig. 11. Comparison of failure mode of test and FE analysis under monotonic loading.
 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146 141

Table 2
Test results under monotonic loading.

Type of specimens Code Yield load Py/mm Maximum load Pmax/mm Ultimate load Pu/mm Ductility factor
μ = Pu/Py
Py/kN Py/kN Pmax/kN Pmax/kN Pu/kN Pu/kN

Angle connectors JG-1 3000 3050 1.5 3810 3723 5.0 3239 3164 12.2 8.1
JG-2 3100 3560 3026
JG-3 3050 3800 3230
Channel connectors CG-1 4450 4750 1.5 4970 5490 3. 7 4225 4667 9.2 6.1
CG-2 4800 5420 4607
CG-3 5000 6080 5168
T-PBL connectors TP-1 1800 1733 0.6 3000 2858 13.2 2550 2430 34.3 57.2
TP-2 1600 2940 2499
TP-3 1800 2635 2240

increases nonlinearly with increases in displacement. In addition, with
the increase in displacement, the magnitude of load increase becomes
progressively smaller until the ultimate bearing capacity of the connec-
tor is reached. After reaching the ultimate load, the load of angle con-
nectors and new channel connectors decreases. At this time, the
shear-force on the connector decreases constantly. However, the dis-
placement increases continuously until the specimen is completely
destroyed. However, after reaching the ultimate load for the first time,
the T-PBL specimens are deformed to a certain extent as the load
is slowly increased. Subsequently, there is another accelerated
rising stage of load, and a second peak point appears on the load-
displacement curve. Due to the slip of the T-PBL connector, the concrete
tenon in the hole is crushed, and the open steel plate makes direct con-
tact with the transverse penetrating steel bar, which leads to recovery of
the bearing capacity.
From the load-displacement curve in Fig. 12 (d) and from Table 2, it
can be seen that the bearing capacity of channel connections is clearly
higher than that of the other two when the same relative displacement
occurs in the linear increasing stage of the load, and the bearing capacity
of T-PBL is the smallest. In the stage of nonlinear increase of load-
displacement, the shear-force of channel connectors is also significantly
higher than that of angle and T-PBL connectors. The maximum bearing
capacity of channel is almost 47.5% larger than that of angle and 92.1%
larger than that of T-PBL connectors. When the ultimate load is reached,
the relative displacement of angle and channel connectors is almost the
same, while the displacement of T-PBL connectors is much higher than
that of angle and channel connectors. The ultimate relative displace-
ment from large to small is: T-PBL connector (34.3 mm), angle connec-
tor (12.2 mm) and channel connector (9.2 mm). In addition, Table 2
shows that of the tested connectors, the ductility of T-PBL connectors

Fig. 12. Load-relative slip curves of test and FE simulation under monotonic loading.
142 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146

Table 3
Performance comparison of three types of shear connectors.

Type of specimens Parameters in per meter of shear connectors in the actual project

Consumption of steel (m/kg) Length of weld (m/m) Shear capacity (m/kN)

Angle connectors 49.7 2.7 9716

Channel connectors 49.9 3.6 8630
T-PBL connectors 51.2 4.0 3969

Table 4
Test results under repeated loading.

Type of specimens Code Py/kN δy/mm Pmax/kN δmax/mm Pu/kN δu/mm μ = δu/δy

Angle connectors JG-D 2250 0.5 3100 6.32 2635 12.2 24.4
Channel connectors CG-D 4500 1.2 5460 4.21 4641 10.1 8.4
T-PBL connectors TP-D 2300 0.9 2900 3.44 2465 24.3 27.0

is the highest, and the ductility of angle connectors is slightly higher
than that of channel connectors.
In actual engineering application, the steel quantity, weld length and
shear capacity of each type of shear connectors in each extended meter
structure are shown in Table 3. It can be seen that the channel connector
has the least amount of steel and the smallest weld length. In addition,
the shear capacity of the channel connector is 12.6% and 144.8% higher
than the angle connector and the T-PBL connector, respectively. It can
be seen that the channel connector proposed in this paper not only
save labor, reduce cost, but also enhance the shear performance, and
have good engineering application prospects and promotion value.
4.2.2. Repeated loading
The test results under repeated loading are shown in Table 4, and
the hysteretic curves of the finite element analysis and the test are
compared as shown in Fig. 13. The hysteretic curve is the load-

Fig. 13. Comparison of hysteresis curves of test and FE simulation under repeated loading.
 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146 143

Fig. 14. Comparison of the load-relative slip curves of specimens under monotonic loading and repeated loading.

displacement curve of a member under repeated loads. A hysteretic
curve can reflect the stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity
and ductility of components, and is a comprehensive reflection of the
seismic performance of components. It can be seen from the compari-
son between the two that the finite element value in elastic stage agrees
well with the experimental value. At the later stage of loading, the finite
element values are in poor agreement with the experimental values.
The constitutive relation of material input in the plastic stage of finite el-
ement model is relatively simple, which make it difficult to accurately
simulate the stress state of components after plasticity. From the hyster-
etic curves of the specimens, it can be seen that: (1) the hysteretic
curves of the three kinds of connectors are full, which reflects their
good energy dissipation capacities. (2) Before the specimen yields, the
relationship between force and displacement is essentially linear with
the continuous increase of load. The loading and unloading curves coin-
cide, the area surrounded by hysteresis loops is very small, and the spec-
imens are in elastic working state. (3) As the load continues to increase,
the area surrounded by hysteretic loops increases after the specimen
yields. The stiffness of the specimens is deteriorating, the residual defor-
mation is increasing, and the specimens enter the elastic-plastic work-
ing state. (4) With the increase in the number of cycles, the relative
displacements of the specimens increase and the maximum cyclic load

Table 5
Comparison of initial shear stiffness of three connectors.

Type of specimens Code 1/3Pmax/kN δ1/3/mm Ki/(kN·mm−1) K/(kN·mm−1)

Angle connectors JG-1 1270 0.22 5773 5025

JG-2 1186 0.28 4235
JG-3 1267 0.25 5068
JG-D 1033 0.21 4919 4919
Channel connectors CG-1 1657 0.25 6628 7534
CG-2 1807 0.24 7529
CG-3 2027 0.24 8446
CG-D 1820 0.27 6741 6741
T-PBL connectors TP-1 1000 0.13 7692 6808
TP -2 980 0.16 6125
TP -3 925 0.14 6607
TP-D 1080 0.18 6000 6000
144 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146

Fig. 15. Shear stiffness-relative slip curves of test and FE simulation.

decreases, which indicates that new damage occurs and energy dissipa-
tion increases continuously in the specimens until the specimens are
destroyed.
4.2.3. Comparison of load-relative slip curves between monotonic loading
and repeated loading
The skeleton curve is the extracted envelope connected by the peak
point at the first cycle of each level of load in the hysteretic curve. The
average load-displacement curves of the specimens under monotonic
loading, and the skeleton curves under repeated loading, are shown in
Fig. 14. From the figure, it can be seen that the finite element model
can accurately reflect the relationship between the load-displacement
curve under monotonic loading and the skeleton curve under repeated
loading. The analysis results are in good agreement with the experimen-
tal values.
From Fig. 14, Tables 2 and 4, it can be seen that the skeleton curves of
the specimens under repeated loading are essentially consistent with
the load-displacement curves of the specimens under monotonic load-
ing. The maximum load of angle connectors under monotonic loading
is 3723 kN, and the corresponding relative displacement is 5.00 mm.
The maximum load of angle connectors under repeated loading is
3100 kN, and the corresponding relative displacement is 6.32 mm. The
maximum load of channel connectors under monotonic loading is
5490 kN, and the corresponding relative displacement is 3.7 mm. The
maximum load of channel connectors under repeated loading is 5460
kN, and the corresponding relative displacement is 4.21 mm. Compared
with the specimens subjected to the monotonic loading test, the maxi-
mum load of angle connectors under repeated loading is 0.83 times
that under monotonic loading, while the maximum load of channel
and T-PBL connectors under repeated loading is almost the same as
that under monotonic loading.
3.1
4.3. Initial shear stiffness
With the deepening of the research on composite structures, it has
been found that the stiffness of connectors will have a certain impact
on the stress and deformation of composite structures [18,19]. There is
little information about the calculation of the initial stiffness, K, of
shear connectors in China. The Japan Steel Structure Association men-
tioned that the calculation of initial stiffness of shear connectors is
based on the load-displacement curve, and the secant slope at 1/3 of
the maximum shear capacity is set as the initial stiffness of connectors
[33]. Table 5 shows the initial stiffness of each connector.
Table 5 shows that, under monotonic loading, the initial stiffness of
channel specimens is 50% higher than that of angle. The initial stiffness
for T-PBL connector specimens is 10% lower than that of channel and
35% higher than that of angle specimens, and the initial stiffness of spec-
imens under repeated loads shows little difference.
4.4. Shear stiffness degradation
The relative slip between shear connectors and concrete directly re-
flects the change in the overall stiffness of the model. To reflect the stiff-
ness and degradation degree of the specimens in each stage under
repeated loading, the stiffness of the specimens in each cycle is calcu-
lated according to formula (5), and the relative ratio of stiffness is calcu-
lated according to formula (6).
Pi
Ki ¼ ð5Þ
Δi
Ki
λi ¼ ð6Þ
K1
Where, Ki is the shear stiffness of each specimen, Pi is the load value
of the peak point in the i-th cycle, Δi is the deformation value of the peak
point in the i-th cycle, λi is the relative ratio of stiffness.
Typical displacement-stiffness degradation curves of specimens ob-
tained by finite element calculation and test under monotonic and

$ Table 6
Energy dissipation coefficient of shear connectors.

Type of Relative slip/mm

specimens
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0

Angle 0.324 0.300 0.357 0.344 0.676 0.911 0.758 0.865 1.073
connectors
Channel 0.313 0.440 0.454 0.520 0.787 0.600 0.659 0.613 0.524
 % & ƸPP connectors
T-PBL 0.660 0.834 0.844 0.905 0.715 1.062 1.043 1.342 1.780
connectors
Fig. 16. Energy dissipation coefficient calculation method diagram.
 W. Deng et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 159 (2019) 134–146
repeated loading are shown in Fig. 15. Because finite element analysis
includes non-linearity, plasticity, contact and other factors which may
cause the calculation results to be difficult to converge, the simulation
process of repeated loading is relatively short, resulting in the failure
to obtain a complete displacement-stiffness degradation curve. It can
be seen that the stiffness degradation trend of specimens under mono-
tonic loading is consistent with that under repeated loading. The stiff-
ness decreases with an increase in displacement. The shear stiffness
degradation of each connector occurs mainly at the stage that has a
smaller relative displacement. When the relative displacement reaches
approximately 1/3 of the maximum displacement, the stiffness degra-
dation rate decreases, and the displacement-stiffness degradation
curve tends to be smooth.
4.5. Energy consumption
The energy dissipation capacity of components is reflected in their
hysteretic curves, which are mainly determined by the fullness of
their hysteretic loops (as shown in Fig. 16) and the energy dissipation
coefficient E can be calculated by Eq. (7).
SOAB
E¼
SOAC
where SOAB is the area of the hysteresis loop, SOAC is the area between
the equivalent elastomer and the coordinate axis.
A representative hysteresis loop dissipation factor for three differ-
ent types of shear connectors is shown in Table 6. It can be seen
that the energy dissipation coefficient of each specimen increases
with the increase of relative slip, and the increasing trend of angle
connector and T-PBL connector are more obvious compared with
channel connector. Compared with the three types of shear connec-
tors, the T-PBL connector has the best energy dissipation capacity,
and the energy dissipation capacity of the channel connector is rela-
tively stable, the energy dissipation capacity of the angle connector
is less than the channel connector when the relative slip is small
and higher than it after the relative slip is increased to 1 mm. It can
be seen that the channel connector not only improves the strength,
but also has a certain energy consumption capability, and can be
used as an excellent shear connector in the composite box girder
bridge.
5. Conclusions
Based on the analysis of the test and FE model results, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The shear capacity of the new channel connector is clearly higher
than that of an angle connector or a T-PBL connector. The maxi-
mum bearing capacity of the angle connectors under repeated
loads is 0.83 times that under monotonic loads, while the maxi-
mum bearing capacity of the new channel connectors and the
T-PBL connectors under different loading modes is similar.
(2) In terms of the initial stiffness of the three connectors, the channel
connectors has an initial stiffness that is 50% and 10% higher than
that of angle connectors and T-PBL connectors, respectively. The
difference in initial stiffness between specimens under repeated
loading is not significant compared with monotonic loading.
(3) As the number of cycles increases, the stiffness of specimens dete-
riorates continuously. Among the stiffness degradation rate of the
three type connectors, channel connectors have the slowest rate,
and angle connectors and perforated steel plates connectors
have faster rates.
(4) Energy dissipation in perforated steel plates is the highest among
the measured connectors, and the energy dissipation of angle and
channel connectors is equivalent.
145
(5) The channel connector presented in this paper not only has
improved strength but also possesses a certain energy dissipation
capacity. As a good shear connector that can be used in composite
structure bridges, channel connectors are more suitable for
earthquake-prone areas.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China (Grant 51478288), Zhejiang Department of Transportation
Research Program (Grant 2016023) and Transport science and technol-
ogy projects of Ningbo City (Grant 201403). Their financial support is
gratefully acknowledged.
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