Chapter 5: Composite Structures

 Composite steel & concrete structures are widely used in modern

Bridge, and building construction.
 A composite member is defined as consisting of a rolled or a built-
up structural steel shape that is either filled with concrete,
encased by reinforced concrete or structurally connected to a
reinforced concrete slab.
COMPOSITE BEAMS
 Composite beams, subject mainly to bending, consist of a
steel section acting compositely with one (or two) flanges
of reinforced concrete.

 The two materials are interconnected by means of

mechanical shear connectors. It is current European
practice to achieve this connection by means of headed
studs, semi-automatically welded to the steel flange
 Instead of an in situ concrete slab, precast concrete floor
or deck units can be used
Typical Beam Cross Sections
 Composite beams, have high stiffness and can
carry heavy loads on long spans.
Composite Steel Beam-Concrete Slab Interaction
Composite column
Three different types of composite columns are principally in
use:
 concrete encased steel columns
 concrete filled steel tubes and
 rolled section columns partly encased in concrete

Could be used for slender columns of high rise buildings

Usually placed at the lower floors of the building to resist the high
loading coming from upper floors
Typical Cross Sections of Composite Columns
 In calculating the strength of such columns, full composite
interaction without any slip at the steel-concrete-interface is
assumed.

 Concrete encased columns have the advantage that they

meet fire resistance requirements without any other
protection
Composite Slabs
 The composite slabs are supported by steel beams,
which normally act compositely with the concrete slab.
 Modern profiled steel sheeting with additional
indentations or embossments acts as both permanent
formwork during concreting and tension reinforcement
after the concrete has hardened.
The Use of Metal Decking in Composite Construction
Composite Floor Construction
 Composite Bridges
 Medium span composite bridges are commonly
constructed from welded, built up, steel plate girders
and a wide reinforced concrete deck,
Types of Shear Connectors

 Shear connectors are generally classified into three

categories,
a) Rigid type
b) Flexible type
c) Bond type

Design of connectors includes: checking capacity,

dimension and spacing
Rigid Type Connectors:
 These connectors as the name implies, are designed to be bent
proof with little inherent power of deformation.
 the most common types are short length of bars, angles or tees
welded on to the steel girder
 Failures in these types of connectors are generally associated
with the crushing of concrete.
Flexible Type Connectors

 Flexible type connectors such as studs,

channels welded to the structural beams
derive their resistance essentially through the
bending of the connectors
 failure occurs when the yield stress in the
connector is exceeded resulting in slip
between the structural beam and the
concrete slab.
Bond or Anchorage Type
Connectors
 These connectors derive their resistance through bond and/or
anchorage action.
These include:
 Inclined bars with one end welded to the flange of the steel unit and the
other suitably bent.
 M.S. bar welded to the flange of the steel unit in the form of helical stirrups.
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