Time-dependent behaviour of simply-supported steel-concrete composite beams

A theoretical and experimental study of the time-dependent behaviour of composite steel-concrete structural members has been undertaken at the University of New South Wales. As part of the experimental investigation, long-term static load tests were carried out on four simply-supported composite steel-concrete beams. The deformations were monitored for a period of about 250 days, as were the creep and shrinkage characteristics of concrete specimens under the same ambient conditions as the test beams. Pushout tests were also conducted on the headed studs used as shear connectors in the test specimens, and slip deformations and slip strains were recorded for two different connector densities. In this Paper transverse deflexions are shown to agree well with a design proposal presented elsewhere. The experimental results presented here provide benchmark data for the calibration of more complex theoretical treatments that incorporate creep, shrinkage and connector slip.