Experimental Investigation of Shear Transfer in Precast Lightweight Concrete Sandwich Slabs with Demountable Bolted Steel Shear Connectors

In this study, three types of bolted shear connectors (I, V, and X type) were proposed. Push-out tests were performed to investigate the shear behaviour of the Precast Lightweight Concrete Sandwich Slab (PLCSS), whose layers were connected by the suggested connectors. Nine specimens of PLCSS were fabricated and tested, and they were distributed into three groups. Each group included three identical specimens for each type of shear connector. The primary parameter considered in this work was the type of shear connector and its effect on the failure mode. The structural behaviour considered load vs relative displacement (between the top and bottom layer), stiffness, ductility, and deformation index. The proposed shear connectors showed a variance in terms of strength, ductility, hardness, deformation index, and absorbed energy values. The highest values of shear strength were for specimens with X-connectors. In addition to their advantage of the ease of fastening or re-dismantling, the bolted shear connectors showed good compatibility with the fabrication of such a composite lightweight concrete element that demonstrates high shear resistance.