Numerical Modeling of Steel-Concrete Composite Beams

Resumen

The use of composite structures is increasingly present in the constructions of Civil Engineering. Steel-concrete composite beams, in particular, are structures consisting of two materials, a profile metal, located in predominantly region of tension, and a section of concrete, located predominantly in compressed region, connected by metallic devices called shear connectors. The main functions of the connectors are: allow the joint work of slab-beam, restrict the longitudinal slipping and uplifting at the interface of the elements, and absorb shear forces. In this context, this work presents three-dimensional numerical models of composite steel-concrete beams, in order to simulate their structural behavior, with emphasis at the interface slab-beam. Simulations had been carried out by means of the ANSYS software, version 10.0, based on Finite Element Method. Results were compared with those provided by Standards and with references found in the literature. Reported results demonstrate that the numerical approach is a valid tool to analyze the behavior of steel-concrete composite beams.