Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112

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Journal of Constructional Steel Research

Strength of multi-span composite beams subjected to combined exure

and torsion
Huiyong Ban a,b,, Ee Loon Tan c, Brian Uy b
a
Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Safety and Durability of China Education Ministry, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
b
Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
c
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

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

Article history: An improved understanding of the performance of composite beams subjected to combined exure and torsion
Received 16 February 2015 is essential for practical design as such loading states are very common in bridges for the main girder and in build-
Received in revised form 13 May 2015 ings for edge beams. Multi-span steelconcrete composite beams consisting of two steel joists and one concrete
Accepted 30 May 2015
slab are concerned herein, on which an experimental study and nite element (FE) modelling analyses are
Available online 11 June 2015
presented. Eight reduced scale beams under combined exure and torsion to varying degrees are tested, with
Keywords:
both full and partial shear connection being incorporated. Either exure-dominated or torsion-dominated failure
Composite beams modes are observed in each test depending on the ratio between the bending and torsional moments applied
Multi-span externally. Load-deformation responses, ultimate strengths as well as exuretorsion interaction of all speci-
Torsional strength mens are also reported and discussed. Based on the experimental outcomes, a three-dimensional FE model is
Flexuretorsion interaction developed and further validated against the test results, and an extensive range of parametric analyses are under-
Experimental study taken by using the FE model. It is indicated that in addition to well-known parameters relating to the concrete
Finite element analysis slab and stirrups, the torsional strength of multi-span composite beams is also sensitive to the degree of shear
connection, spacing of the joists and span-to-depth ratio. Contributions of the steel joist and its constraint on
the slab towards the torsional strength are increased. With respect to their exuretorsion interaction relation,
no increase in the torsional strength is observed within the presence of combined exure, and vice versa. The
interaction is insensitive generally to various parameters considered herein and the test results exhibit consistent
phenomenon. Design guidance and new equations for predicting the torsional strength and the exuretorsion
interaction relation are proposed based on the test and FE analysis results as well as a comprehensive review of
existing approaches in the literature.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Steelconcrete composite beams have been widely used in bridge
and building construction due to their capability of combining the bene-
ts of both the steel component in tension and the concrete component
in compression. Combined loading actions of exure and torsion are very
common for either main girders in bridges or edge beams in buildings,
and therefore knowledge for understanding the load responses of mem-
bers subjected to such loading conditions is essential for practical design.
Surprisingly, few national standards cover this loading combination for
the design of composite beams, such as the Australian Standard [1],
Eurocode 4 (EC4) [2], British Standard [3], American Code [4] and
China's Code [5] for composite structures. This paper is devoted to eval-
uating the strength aspects of multi-span composite beams subjected to
Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Safety and Durability of
China Education Ministry, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing
100084, PR China.
E-mail address: banhy@tsinghua.edu.cn (H. Ban).
combined exure and torsion, which consist of two steel joists and one
concrete slab and are widely used in bridges.
Despite a large number of investigations on the torsional behaviour
of composite beams being undertaken in the past decades, few con-
cerned the multi-span composite beams. The earliest research was
focused on the elastic performance of composite beams under pure tor-
sion [6,7], in which equations developed were further veried by exper-
imental investigations [8]. Colville [9] tested four composite beams
curved in plan in 1973, with a design methodology for shear connectors
in such beams and lower bound for the exuretorsion interaction
being developed. In late 1970s, a series of composite beam tests under
combined exure and torsion were conducted by Singh and Mallick
[10], Ghosh and Mallick [11], and Ray and Mallick [12]. Based on the
test results, they found that contributions of the concrete slab towards
the ultimate strength in torsion of composite beams were major, and
equations for reinforced concrete (RC) members could also give satisfac-
tory torsional strengths for composite beams. They also proposed various
exuretorsion interaction relations based on their test results. More
recently, Thevendran et al. [13] and Tan and Uy [14] experimentally

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2015.05.023
0143-974X/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112
Fig. 1. Cross-sectional geometry (unit: mm).
Fig. 2. Loading setup (unit: mm).
investigated the behaviour of curved composite beams subjected to
combine exure and torsion. Nie et al. [15] carried out an experimental
study on straight composite beams and developed a three-dimensional
behavioural truss model for predicting their ultimate strengths under
combined actions of exure and torsion, and new exuretorsion inter-
action relations were proposed [16]. Tan and Uy [17] experimentally
investigated such behaviour of straight composite beams with the
consideration of partial shear connection, and developed a three-
dimensional nite element (FE) model by using ABAQUS for non-
linear analysis [18]. All of the afore-mentioned investigations indicated
that there was a conspicuous increase in the ultimate strength in torsion
within the presence of a combined exure for single-span composite
beams.
Fig. 3. Beam test setup. (a) Pure bending; (b) combined exure and torsion.
It is clear that vast majority of previous research in the literature was
focused on composite beams with one steel joist, whilst little was relat-
ed to multi-span composite beams. The lack of knowledge for under-
standing the performance of the multi-span composite beams under
combined exure and torsion may lead to unreasonable or even unsafe
design solutions, as they may behave differently compared with the
single-span beams due to the much stronger restraint provided by
steel joists towards the concrete slab. Multi-span members are com-
monly used in bridges and highway interchanges, and further knowl-
edge on the behaviour of such members could vastly improve design
techniques for these critical paradigms of infrastructure.
With the aim of understanding the overall behaviour of multi-span
steelconcrete composite beams subjected to combined exure and
torsion, eight reduced scale tests under varying loading conditions
are presented herein, and their failure modes, load-deformation re-
sponses, ultimate strengths as well as the exuretorsion interaction
are analysed. A three-dimensional FE model is developed and calibrated
by using the test results. Extensive parametric analyses incorporating
the degree of shear connection, material strengths, reinforcement ratios
of stirrups, cross-sectional geometries as well as span-to-depth ratios are
undertaken. Based on this work, design guidance in terms of calculation
equations for predicting the torsional strength and exuretorsion inter-
action relation of such multi-span composite beams is proposed.
2. Experimental programme
2.1. Test specimens and setup
Eight reduced scale simply supported multi-span composite beams
with identical cross-section and beam span were prepared and tested,
referred to as MCBF14 and MCBP14 respectively for full and partial
shear connection throughout this paper. Both beam ends of each speci-
men were restrained from twisting. Each of the multi-span beams
consisted of two steel joists and one concrete slab, with 19 mm diame-
ter headed studs as mechanical shear connectors. Fig. 1 illustrates
their cross-sectional geometry, with all dimensions given in mm. An
Australian universal beam 200 UB 29.8 [19] was utilised as the steel
joist, and the solid concrete slab was 1000 mm in width and 120 mm
in thickness. Spacing of the two joists was 500 mm. Two layers of
Australian N12 reinforcement at 150 mm spacing were embedded in
the slab as the longitudinal reinforcement, and R10 stirrup bars were
utilised as the torsional reinforcement at 200 mm spacing. Shear con-
nectors were uniformly distributed over the beam length at 285 mm
spacing, and there were two rows of connectors welded on each joist
for the full shear connection, and one row for the partial interaction.
The total beam length was 4600 mm with a simply supported span
of 4000 mm. All beams were subjected to two-point loads with varying
loading eccentricities for producing different combined actions, and the
loading point was 675 mm away from the mid-span which gave a load-
ing span of 1350 mm, as shown in Fig. 2. Beams MCBF1 and MCBP1 were
 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112 3

increased progressively until the peak load was reached. The loading
was terminated when either the maximum stroke of the jack was
reached or the loading capacity of the specimens dropped drastically.
The mid-span deection, beam end rotation and twist at the loading
points were monitored throughout the test. As the beams were statically
indeterminate due to the torsional restraint at beam ends, Fig. 4 gives
the internal torsional moment diagram along the beam length, and
Fig. 4(a) reects the loading conditions in the tests.

2.2. Material properties

Standard concrete cylinders (300 mm high with a diameter of

Fig. 4. Internal torsional moment diagram. (a) Two-point loading; (b) single point loading.
150 mm [20]) were prepared during casting, and their compressive
strengths at different ages are plotted in Fig. 5. The mean compressive
strength at 28 days after casting was 25.5 MPa, and the exural tensile
strength was 4.1 MPa. Standard tension coupon tests were undertaken
to obtain material properties of the steel joist, reinforcing bars and
headed studs, and their average results are summarised in Table 1.

2.3. Push-out test results

Six push-out tests were carried out to evaluate shear-slip responses

of both full and partial shear connection, and the test setup and dimen-
sions are illustrated in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 plots load versus slip curves obtained
from the push-out tests. Totally, eight and four connectors were incor-
porated in each full and partial shear connection push-out test, respec-
tively, and their corresponding mean shear capacity of an individual
connector was 88.6 kN and 99.7 kN, respectively.

Fig. 5. Concrete compressive strengths at different ages. 2.4. Beam test results

Test results of load versus mid-span deection curves of all the eight
Table 1 specimens are illustrated in Fig. 8, and typical moment versus beam end
Summary of steel properties.
rotation curves and torsion versus twist at the loading point curves are
Sample Elastic modulus Es Yield strength fy Tensile strength fu shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. Magnitudes of both the beam end
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) rotation and the twist are given in absolute values.
Steel ange 2.16 105 342.7 521.2 Crack patterns and failure modes depended heavily on the propor-
Steel web 2.27 105 364.6 531.7 tion of exure and torsion in the combined actions to which the beam
N12 bars 1.90 105 480.7 620.0 was subjected rather than degrees of shear connection. Either exure-
R10 bars 1.92 105 350.3 470.0
dominated or torsion-dominated failure mode was observed in each
Headed studs 2.10 105 442.1 560.3
test. Beams MCBF1 and MCBP1 subjected to pure bending failed by
exure due to crushing of the concrete, of which typical crack pattern
under pure bending and the loading points were at the centerline of the is shown in Fig. 11(a). It is visible that the cracking and crushing of
slab (Fig. 2(a)). For the other beams MCBF24 and MCBP24, loading the concrete occurred in the areas adjacent to the loading points.
eccentricities were involved to produce combined torsion. Distance be- Beams MCBF2 and MCBP2 under high exure and low torsion, were
tween the loading points and the edge of the slab was 300 mm, 200 mm similarly exure-dominated and failed by the concrete crushing. The
and 100 mm for beams MCBF(P)24, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2(b). exure-dominated failure mode could produce higher ductility based
Beams MCBF4 and MCBP4 were subjected to the highest level of torsion. on the deections in Fig. 8.
Fig. 3 shows photos of the test setup. A 1000 kN hydraulic jack was Beams MCBF34 and MCBP34 under relatively low exure and
used to apply the load. Displacement control was adopted with a load- high torsion failed in the same manner with a torsion-dominated
ing rate of 80 s/mm for the rst hour; afterwards the loading rate was mode, as shown in Fig. 11(b). Diagonal cracks in 45 direction basically

Fig. 6. Push-out test setup. (a) Full shear connection; (b) partial shear connection.
4 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112

Fig. 7. Push-out test results. (a) Full shear connection; (b) partial shear connection.

were observed throughout the top surface of the concrete slab between
the loading points, and numerous slightly horizontal cracks occurred on
both sides of the slab. The torsion-dominated failure mode exhibited
relatively poor ductility as shown in Fig. 8. It is worth noting that
beam MCBP4 eventually failed by the punching shear resulting from
the loading points being located on the cantilever portion of the slab;
and therefore it was unloaded prematurely and its torsional strength
was even smaller compared with beam MCBP3 (Table 2).
Table 2 lists the ultimate strengths of all specimens, including the peak
load Pu, ultimate bending moment Mu and ultimate torsional moment Tu.
Calculation of Tu was carried out by using the corresponding loading
eccentricity and based on Fig. 4(a). The exuretorsion interaction

Fig. 8. Comparison of load versus mid-span deection responses between test results and FEA results. (a) Full interaction; (b) partial interaction.
 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112 5

Fig. 9. Comparison of FE results with test results for moment versus beam end rotation responses. (a) Full interaction; (b) partial interaction.

Fig. 10. Comparison of FE results with test results for torsion versus twist responses. (a) Full interaction; (b) partial interaction.

Fig. 11. Typical crushing and cracking patterns. (a) Flexure-dominated mode; (b) torsion-dominated mode.

diagram of the test results is illustrated in Fig. 12, in which the ultimate and torsion, as they may produce similar loading capacities at a lower
strength in pure torsion was determined based on equations proposed cost in terms of lower demand of shear connectors.
by Nie et al. [16]. It is indicated from Fig. 12 that there is no increase in
the torsional strength within the presence of exure, in contrast with 3. Finite element modelling
single-span composite beams which commonly possess a conspicuous
increase based on previous research [1018]. Either the ultimate strength A three-dimensional FE model was developed by using ABAQUS [21]
in torsion or in exure was reduced in cases of combined actions. How- to assess the strength of multi-span composite beams subjected to
ever, this phenomenon needs further conrmation through FE modelling combined exure and torsion. All scientic denitions of material
as no tests under pure torsion were carried out herein. In addition,
strength characteristics of multi-span composite beams with partial
shear connection were close to that with full shear connection, especially
in the cases of medium exure and medium torsion as well as high ex-
ure and low torsion. This implied benets of the partial shear connection
to the strength of multi-span composite beams under combined exure

Table 2
Summary of beam test results.

Specimen Pu (kN) Mu (kN) Tu (kN) Specimen Pu (kN) Mu (kN) Tu (kN)

MCBF1 646.30 428.17 0 MCBP1 591.49 391.86 0

MCBF2 596.57 395.23 39.52 MCBP2 576.54 381.96 38.20
MCBF3 522.45 346.12 51.92 MCBP3 512.04 339.23 50.88
MCBF4 415.44 275.23 55.05 MCBP4 372.5 246.78 49.36
Fig. 12. Flexuretorsion interaction diagram of test results.
6 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112
constitutive models and nite element formulations may be referred to
the theory manual [21] in detail.
3.1. Material model
The steel of joists was modelled by using a multi-linear stressstrain
relation as shown in Fig. 13(a), with a yield plateau and strain hardening
being considered. The relation may be determined through parameters
such as the Young's modulus Es, yield strength fy and ultimate tensile
stress fu, strain at the onset of strain hardening st, and strain u at
which fu was reached. Poisson's ratio was taken as an identical value
of 0.3 [22]. With respect to reinforcements, an elastic perfectly-plastic
model was utilised. The metal plasticity model utilised herein is an
isotropic hardening model using von Mises' yielding criterion [21].
The concrete damaged plasticity model was selected for simulating
the concrete material in this paper, with tensile cracking and compres-
sive crushing being assumed as two main failure mechanisms; the yield
surface of this material model is controlled by two hardening variables
that are related to failure mechanisms in tension and compression,
respectively [21]. Its hardening in compression was determined by
using a non-linear stressstrain relationship prescribed in Eurocode 2
(EC2) [23] as shown in Fig. 13(b), whilst its tension stiffening was de-
ned by means of a crackingdisplacement based curve [24] as shown
in Fig. 13(c), which is expressed as
t p ek ;
where t is the tensile stress beyond cracking, p is the tensile strength
of concrete and can be expressed as p = 0.3(fc 8)2/3 when fc
58 MPa otherwise p = 2.12ln(1 + fc / 10) [23], is the crack width,
the constant is 1.01 and the corresponding value of the constant k
is 1.544 103 with being given in units of in [24]. Poisson's ratio
of the concrete was taken as 0.2 [23,25].
3.2. FE model
Fig. 14 shows a typical mesh of the FE model for a multi-span com-
posite beam, which consists of one concrete slab and two steel joists.
Solid element C3D8 (three-dimensional, 8-node continuum stress/
displacement element) was used for meshing the concrete slab, and
T3D2 (three-dimensional, 2-node truss element) truss elements were
embedded in the slab for modelling the reinforcement. Shell element
S4R (4-node, quadrilateral, stress/displacement shell element with
reduced integration and a large-strain formulation) was utilised for
modelling the steel joists. With respect to shear connectors, connector
element CONN3D2 (three-dimensional, 2-node connector element)
was applied, of which mechanical properties were dened in both lon-
gitudinal and transverse directions by means of non-linear shear versus
slip relations; whilst in the vertical direction connectors were assumed
to be elastic. A hard contact pair was dened at the interface between
the top ange of the joists and the soft of the concrete slab. Rigid
Fig. 13. Stressstrain relationships adopted in ABAQUS. (a) Steel; (b) concrete in compression; (c) concrete in tension.
Fig. 14. Typical FE mesh of the multi-span composite beam.
surfaces attached on the top of the slab were dened for simulating
loading plates.
3.3. Validation of FE model
To calibrate the FE model developed herein, performance of the
eight multi-span composite beams subjected to combined exure and
torsion was modelled. In the validation process, all geometric and mate-
1
rial parameters were determined based on the test results reported in
this paper, and the non-linear behaviour of connector elements in the
FE model was determined in accordance with the shear-slip responses
of headed studs obtained from the push-out tests.
Fig. 8 shows comparisons of the load versus mid-span deection re-
sponse between the test results and FE modelling calculations, in which
good consistency is indicated in terms of the peak load and the initial
stiffness. It is worth noting that the FE results of beam MCBP4 markedly
overestimated its loading capacity to some extent, and the reason is that
it was unloaded prematurely due to the punching shear failure around
the two loading points in the test.
Fig. 9 illustrates comparisons of the FE modelling results with the
test results for the moment versus beam end rotation responses for
the two specimens (MCBF1 and MCBP1) subjected to pure exure, in
which good agreement is observed. Fig. 10 plots typical comparisons
of the FE modelling results with the test results for the torsion versus
twist responses at the loading point, in which the agreement is also
satisfactory.
Fig. 15(a) plots a comparison of the FE results with the test results for
loading capacities of all the eight specimens under different loading
conditions. It can be seen that the two groups of results have good
consistency with each other, and the loading capacity predicted by the
FE model is lower than the test results by 1.5% on average, with a stan-
dard deviation of 5.9%. A comparison of the FE results with the test
results for the ultimate strength in torsion is shown in Fig. 15(b), with
good agreement being observed. The torsional strength obtained from
 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112
Fig. 15. Comparison of FE results with test results for strength. (a) Loading capacity; (b) torsion.
the FE analyses is lower than the test results by 0.7% on average, with a
standard deviation of 6.7%.
Based on the afore-mentioned comparisons of strengths as well as
deformations of the multi-span composite beams subjected to various
loading conditions with combined exure and torsion, it is condent
to apply the developed FE model herein for further parametric analyses.
4. Parametric analyses
To assess the torsional strength and the exuretorsion interaction
behaviour of multi-span composite beams, an extensive body of para-
metric analyses was conducted herein by using the calibrated FE
model. Parameters relating to the degree of shear connection, material
strengths, reinforcement ratios of stirrups, cross-sectional geometries
as well as span-to-depth ratios were incorporated in the parametric
study, and all the parameters considered herein are listed in Table 3.
All the bold values in Table 3 corresponded to a standard beam, whilst
others were utilised for comparative beams. With the aim of quantifying
the interaction behaviour of exure and torsion, eight values of
moment-to-torsion ratios = T / M were considered, in which T and
M denote the maximum internal torsional and bending moments
along the beam length carried by the composite beam, respectively. A
value of = 0 corresponds to a beam under pure bending whilst a
value of = + corresponds to a beam subjected to pure torsion. The
other six values of were archived by assigning certain values of the
loading eccentricities. A total of 96 steelconcrete composite beams
were modelled and calculated in the parametric study.
All beams were simply supported whilst both the beam ends were
restrained from twisting. Loads were applied at the mid-span, and
therefore the maximum internal torsional moment carried by the
beam was half of the torque externally applied, as shown in Fig. 4(b).
The ultimate internal torsional and bending moments (Tu and Mu,
respectively) were obtained based on the FE modelling results to assess
the strength characteristics of multi-span composite beams subjected
to combined exure and torsion. Tu and Mu were normalised in the
exuretorsion interaction diagram by using the pure torsional (Tu0)
and bending capacities (Mu0), respectively.
Table 3
Parameters and their values.
Parameters Range Values
Degree of shear connection c 0.51.5 0.5, 1.0, 1.5
Concrete strength fc (MPa) 32100 32, 65
Steel grade fy (MPa) 350690 350, 690
Stirrup ratio Ars/s (mm) 0.160.64 0.16, 0.32, 0.48, 0.64
Cross-sectional geometry 200 UB 29.8, 460 UB 76.4
Spacing of joists b0 (mm) 400600 400, 500, 600
Span-to-depth ratio L/D 1525 15, 20, 25
Moment-to-torsion ratio = T/M 0 to + 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15,
0.20, 0.30, +
Bold values correspond to a standard beam in the parametric analyses.
7
4.1. Effects of degree of shear connection
Both partial and full shear connection were involved in the paramet-
ric study, with three degrees c of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 being selected. Fig. 16
shows comparisons of strengths of the multi-span composite beams
subjected to combined exure and torsion with various degrees of
shear connection. It is indicated in Fig. 16(a) that the ultimate strength
Tu0 in pure torsion increases slightly with an increase of c. With respect
to the exuretorsion interaction as plotted in Fig. 16(b), generally con-
sistent results of the three groups of beams are observed, and the inter-
action curve of partial shear connection beams is a bit lower compared
with full shear connection beams. The reason for the phenomenon indi-
cated in Fig. 16 is that higher degrees of shear connection can provide
stronger combination between the concrete and steel components.
Nevertheless, the effect of the degree of shear connection is negligible
generally.
In addition, the torsional strength of multispan composite beams is
gradually decreased with an increase of values of the combined exure,
which is consistent with the test results as shown in Fig. 12; whilst for
single-span composite beams, by contrast, there is normally a conspicu-
ous increase in the torsional moment when combined exure is present
in accordance with previous research [1018]. This characteristic of the
exuretorsion interaction of multi-span composite beams is mainly
resulted from the much stronger restraint provided by the two joists
towards the slab in torsion, which makes the whole cross-section closer
to a completely integrated solid section. The explanation can be further
conrmed by the deformation and strain distributions at the mid-span
based on the FE modelling results. Fig. 17 shows typical deformation
at the mid-span of beams under varying loading conditions, and it can
be seen that the steel joists and the concrete slab synchronise as they
twist; whilst for single-span composite beams visible difference be-
tween the two components was observed [18]. Besides, the develop-
ment of strains throughout the cross-sectional height as shown in
Fig. 18 also exhibits good consistency between the steel and concrete
components in terms of the curvature; whilst single-span composite
beams demonstrate signicant differences for the curvature between
the two components. In Fig. 18, strains within both steel joists and the
corresponding portion of the slab are given.
4.2. Effects of material strength
Material strengths of concrete and steel components commonly
applied in practice were adopted herein, i.e. the concrete possessed a
compressive strength fc of 32 MPa [25] and the steel had a yield strength
fy of 350 MPa [22]; meanwhile high strength (HS) materials were incor-
porated to clarify the effects of their increased strengths on the perfor-
mance of multi-span composite beams under combined exure and
torsion, with 65 MPa and 690 MPa respectively for the concrete and
steel being utilised. All reinforcements possessed an identical yield
strength of 350 MPa and consistent geometric parameters.
Fig. 19 illustrates comparisons of strengths of the multi-span
composite beams under combined exure and torsion with different
8 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112

Fig. 16. Effects of degree of shear connection on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.

Fig. 17. Deformation at the mid-span. (a) Pure bending ( = 0); (b) combined exure and torsion ( = 0.2); (c) pure torsion ( = +).

ranging from 0.16 mm to 0.64 mm were involved in the parametric

Fig. 18. Strain distribution throughout the cross-sectional height obtained from FE model-
ling results. (a) Pure bending ( = 0); (b) combined exure and torsion ( = 0.2).
study to elucidate their effects on the strength of multi-span composite
beams, in which Ars is the cross-sectional area of one leg of the stirrup
and s is the spacing of the stirrups. Fig. 20 plots comparisons of strengths
of the multi-span composite beams subjected to combined exure and
torsion with different stirrup congurations. It can be observed in
Fig. 20(a) that larger stirrup ratios Ars/s give higher torsional strengths
accordingly, which is consistent with the principle of contributions of
stirrups towards torsional capacities for both single-span composite
beams [1012] and RC members [26]. Meanwhile, it is worth noting
that the contributions of stirrups towards the torsional strength of
multi-span composite beams were not such signicant, as the increase
in Fig. 20(a) is gentle to some extent. With regard to the exuretorsion
interaction, the effects of stirrup ratios are insignicant according to
comparisons in Fig. 20(b), notwithstanding the torsional strength
being improved.

material strengths. A marked increase in the torsional strength Tu0 can
be found in Fig. 19(a), which implies that contributions of the concrete
material and steel joists towards the torsional strength are also signi-
cant in addition to that of stirrups. Based on the exuretorsion interac-
tion diagram as shown in Fig. 19(b), it can be seen that higher strength
materials may result in a slightly lower interaction curve, but the trend
of the curves is basically consistent.
4.3. Effects of stirrup ratio
Stirrups embedded in the concrete slab contribute essentially to-
wards the torsional capacity, and therefore four stirrup ratios Ars/s
4.4. Effects of cross-sectional dimension
With respect to geometric parameters, two types of cross-sections
were modelled, in which two universal beams 200 UB 29.8 and 460 UB
76.4 [19] were utilised with companion concrete slabs of 1000 mm
120 mm and 1500 mm 150 mm in dimension, respectively. For
beams with 460 UB 76.4, the moment-to-torsion ratios was deter-
mined as = 0, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.10, 0.15, + for ensuring
the calculation data being scattered more reasonably on the interaction
curve. In accordance with comparisons of strengths of multi-span com-
posite beams subjected to combined exure and torsion with the two
different cross-sectional dimensions as shown in Fig. 21, it is indicated

Fig. 19. Effects of material strength on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.
 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112 9

Fig. 20. Effects of stirrup ratio on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.

in Fig. 21(a) that stronger cross-section logically gives higher torsional
strength, because contributions of all the prime components of concrete,
stirrups and steel joists are markedly improved in larger cross-sections.
Despite this, the exuretorsion interaction response is insensitive to
the change of the cross-section as shown in Fig. 21(b).
4.5. Effects of spacing of steel joists
For multi-span composite beams, spacing b0 between centrelines
of the two joists may also possess essential effects on the torsional
strength, as larger values of the spacing b0 may lead to higher torsional
stiffness of the entire composite cross-section, and three values ranging
from 400 mm to 600 mm were incorporated herein.
From comparisons of strengths of multi-span composite beams sub-
jected to combined exure and torsion with various values of b0 as
shown in Fig. 22, it can be seen that larger spacing b0 results in markedly
higher torsional strengths, which is due to the increased torsional stiff-
ness of the cross-section. The exuretorsion interaction diagram is
insensitive to the spacing of the two joists when b0 is smaller than half
of the width of the concrete slab, whilst the interaction curve is slightly
lower when b0 exceeds half of the slab width.
4.6. Effects of span-to-depth ratio
Span-to-depth ratio L/D is one of the most important parameters at
the level of member that may inuence the overall behaviour of com-
posite beams subjected to combined exure and torsion. Three values
of L/D ranging from 15 to 25 were incorporated herein, and Fig. 23
plots their comparisons for both torsional strengths and exuretorsion
interaction diagrams. It can be seen that larger span-to-depth ratios give
relatively lower torsional strengths due to the accordingly increased
deformation in terms of twist and resulted premature yielding and fail-
ure of component materials. However, the exuretorsion interaction
diagram is insensitive to this ratio.
5. Design guidance
With the aim of developing robust design guidance for predicting
the torsional strength and the exuraltorsion interaction relation of
such multi-span composite beams subjected to combined exure and
torsion, a number of equations available in the literature for predicting
their strengths were reviewed herein, and were compared with the
afore-mentioned FE analysis results to clarify their accuracy and scope.

Fig. 21. Effects of cross-sectional dimension on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.

Fig. 22. Effects of spacing of steel joists on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.
10 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112

Fig. 23. Effects of span-to-depth ratio on strength of multi-span composite beams. (a) Torsional strength; (b) exuretorsion interaction diagram.

5.1. Torsional strength strength of the concrete. The coefcient can be obtained by using
the following equation [26]:
Torsional strength Tu of a steelconcrete composite section normally
" #
consists of three components, i.e. contributions of the concrete Tc, of 1 192 t X

1 nb
stirrups Tc and of the steel joist Tj, which can be expressed as [10] 1 5 c tanh c
3 bc n5 2t c
n1;3;5
" # : 7
k 8
X

1
T u T c T s T j: 2 1 2
n 2 coshnb
2t
c
n1;3;5 c

Despite the contribution of the steel joist Tj being treated negligible

compared with contributions of the slab for single-span composite On the basis of STA and CEC approaches, Hsu [30] proposed a new
beams [9,11], it was considered in this research for multi-span compos- equation with coefcients being determined through PCA tests, with
ite beams because there are two joists and the cross-section is closer to a length in units of in. and stress in units of psi,
completely integrated section. Tj for one steel joist can be determined by !
 q
using [27] t 2c bc f yrl y x0 y0 Ars f yrs
T c T s jPCA 2:4 f c 0:66m 0:33 0 ; 8
3 f yrs x0 s

 |{z} |{z}
T j b f t 2f t 3f =3 bw t 2w =2 t 3w =6  y ; 3 Tc t 1:5

where bf and tf are the width and thickness of the joist ange, bw and tw where m is the volume ratio of the longitudinal reinforcement to the
are the width and thickness of the joist web, and y is the shear strength stirrups and may be obtained by m = Arl s / [Ars2(x0 + y0)] and Arl is
of the steel and is taken as 0.6 fy [17]. the cross-sectional area of all longitudinal reinforcements, fyrl is the
Most of relevant research has been focused on contributions of the yield strength of the longitudinal reinforcement.
concrete slab towards the torsional strength. Hsu [26] reviewed several By employing dozens of subsequent experimental investigations,
classical theories dealing with the pure torsion, including Rausch's Hsu improved Eq. (8) based on the skew-bending theory as [31]
Space Truss Analogy (STA) [28], Cowan's Efciency Coefcient (CEC)
 q  
[29] as well as theories of Hsu himself based on PCA tests (PCA) [30] t 2c bc p f yrl y x0 y0 Ars f yrs
T c T s jSBT 2:4 f c m 1 0:2 0 ; 9
and Skew-Bending Theory (SBT) [31] which served as a basis of the de- 3 f yrs x0 s
|{z} |
{z}
sign for torsion since the 1971 ACI Codes [26]. Tc t 1:6
Torsional strength of the concrete slab in accordance with the STA
approach [26,28] is expressed as
Ray and Mallick [12] introduced Hsu's another equations [32,33] in
metric units, with slight differences from Eqs. (8) and (9),
Ars f yrs
T c T s jSTA 2x0 y0 ; 4  
s y x0 y0 Ars f yrs
5=3 1=3
T c T s jHsu 3:089t c bc f c 0:66m 0:33 0 ; 10
x0 s
where x0 and y0 are the smaller and larger dimensions of stirrups, re- y
0:7 m 1:5 & 0 2:6;
spectively, Ars is the cross-sectional area of one leg of the stirrups, fyrs x0
is their yield strength, and s is their spacing.
According to CEC method [11,15], contributions of the concrete slab where the length is given in units of cm and the stress is given in units
to the torsional strength may be calculated by of kg/cm2.
Despite the afore-mentioned equations being originally developed
Ars f yrs for RC members, they can give satisfactory results against previous
T c T s jCEC T e 1:6x0 y0 ; 5 single-span composite beam tests [1012].
s
More recently, Nie et al. [16] proposed a new equation for determin-
where the contribution of the plain concrete is taken as the elastic ing the contribution of the concrete slab towards the torsional strength
torque Te, which may be derived from Eq. (6) as of composite beams, expressed as

p Ars f yrs
T e  t 2c bc f t ; 6 T c T s jNIE 0:1015f t W t 2:9698 mx0 y0 ; 11
s

where is St. Venant's coefcient and is a function of the ratio bc/tc, tc is where Wt is the torsional plastic section modulus of the concrete slab
the thickness of the concrete slab and bc is the width, ft is the tensile and taken as Wt = t2c 3bc tc / 6.
 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112 11

5.2. Flexuretorsion interaction

Flexuretorsion interaction diagram is one of the most important

methodologies for assessing the strength of structural members sub-
jected to combined exure and torsion. The lower bound interaction re-
lation proposed by Colville [9] seems like the rst one for steelconcrete
composite beams, which is expressed as
 2  2
Mu Tu
1; 12
M u0 T u0

where Mu and Tu are the maximum internal bending and torsional

Fig. 24. Comparison between FE modelling and equation results for torsional strength of moments along the beam length, respectively, and Mu0 and Tu0 are the
multi-span composite beams. ultimate strengths in pure bending and pure torsion of the cross-
section, respectively.
Singh and Mallick [10] proposed an interaction diagram in terms of a
Figs. 16(a) and 19(a)23(a) plot calculation results obtained from broken line model with two segments based on test results, which may
the afore-mentioned equations together with the FE modelling results, be obtained from
based on which the following research ndings were made:  
Tu 21 M u Tu Mu
1 & 1:21; 12:1 1 & 1:21: 13
(i) The approaches SBT, PCA and STA gave the lowest torsional T u0 110 M u0 T u0 Mu0
strengths for multi-span composite beams, and the approaches
CEC and Hsu produced medium results; the method NIE pos- Ghosh and Mallick [11], and Ray and Mallick [12] respectively
sessed the highest predictions in the torsional strength which introduced two different interaction relations based on experimental
was also the most accurate compared with the FE modelling research; however, no explicit equations were reported.
results for multi-span composite beams. Nie et al. [15] proposed an interaction relation consisting of three
(ii) The torsional strength of multi-span composite beams were line segments based on test results, which can be derived by
demonstrated to be sensitive to the degree of shear connection, 8 p
the spacing of the two joists and the span-to-depth ratio, which < M u =M u0 0:65 : T u =T u0 1 3:17Mu =Mu0 ;
are not involved in existing approaches for predicting the tor- M =M N 0:65 : T u =T u0 3:422:55Mu =M u0 &N0:6; 14
: u u0
sional strength of composite beams. T u =T u0 6 6Mu =Mu0 & 0:6:
(iii) The torsional strength of multi-span composite beams utilising
HS materials was dramatically higher than the predictions of Nie et al. [16] developed another interaction equation based on the-
the method NIE (Fig. 19(a)), whilst that for high stirrup ratios oretical results,
was markedly lower than the results obtained from the method 8  
NIE (Fig. 20(a)). As a consequence, it implied that for the torsional >
> M M T Mu 2 Tu
< u 0:807 u0 : u 0:312 0:539 1;
strength of multi-span composite beams, previous methods prob- Tu T u0 T u0 Mu0 T u0 15
ably underestimated the contributions of the steel joist and of the >
> M M M
: u N0:807 u0 : u 1:
plain concrete, and overestimated that of stirrups. Tu T u0 M u0

All the afore-mentioned exuretorsion interaction relations are

Despite some inuential parameters being excluded in the approach plotted in Fig. 25(a) together with all the FE analysis results. It can be
NIE (Eq. (11)) [16], it may still give satisfactory predictions for the tor- seen that the FE analysis results are closer to the lower bound of inter-
sional strength of multi-span composite beams with parameters in the action given by Colville [9]. There is no conspicuous increase in the tor-
practical range, as shown in Fig. 24 with a majority of the deviation sional moment when the combined exure is present, which is contrast
being within 10%. Nevertheless, the resistance in torsion of such with single-span composite beams. Fig. 25(b) gives a more accurate
multi-span composite beams is logically and theoretically different interaction relation developed through non-linear tting of the FE anal-
from that with single steel joist in terms of the non-uniform torsion, ysis results, and it is expressed as
and therefore further investigations incorporating more parameters  1  3:5
and theoretical research are in need to conrm and to improve this de- Mu Tu
1: 16
sign guidance by emphasising the feature of non-uniform torsion. M u0 T u0

Fig. 25. Comparison of exuretorsion interaction relations of multi-span composite beams. (a) Existing models; (b) proposed model.
12 H. Ban et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 113 (2015) 112
6. Conclusions
Eight reduced scale tests on multi-span steelconcrete composite
beams under combined exure and torsion were reported in this paper,
and 96 such beams were modelled by using a validated FE model for
parametric analyses. A large range of parameters were incorporated to
elucidate their effects on the torsional strength as well as the exure
torsion interaction relation of multi-span composite beams. Based on
the research ndings, the following conclusions can be made:
Multi-span steelconcrete composite beams failed in either a exure-
dominated mode or a torsion-dominated mode, depending on the
proportion of combined actions; the former mode normally corre-
sponds to high ductility whilst the latter one implies poor ductility.
The FE model developed herein is adequate for predicting the strength
and deformation of multi-span composite beams subjected to com-
bined exure and torsion.
There is no increase in the torsional strength within the presence
of combined exure for multi-span composite beams in contrast
with single-span beams. The cross-section of multi-span composite
beams exhibits good integration in terms of synchronised twist and
basically consistent curvature for the steel and concrete components.
Despite the torsional strength of such beams being sensitive to the
degree of shear connection, the spacing of the two joists and the
span-to-depth ratio, the equation developed by Nie et al. [16] provides
satisfactory predictions in the practical range.
Flexuretorsion interaction diagrams of such multi-span composite
beams are close to the lower bound curve, and a new relation was pro-
posed herein which could produce more accurate predictions for such
beams.
Acknowledgements
The work in this paper was supported nancially by the Australian
Research Council through Discovery Projects (DP087974 and
DP110101328), which is acknowledged with thanks. All the laboratory
staffs at the University of Western Sydney are also acknowledged for
their assistant during the testing.
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