L.
PHAM
DESIGN STRENGTH OF STUD SHEAR
CONNECTORS
ABSTRACT
There are wide discrepancies in the recommenda-
tions for the design strength of stud shear connectors
in bridge codes. The NAASRA Bridge Design
Specification requires studs of 410 MPa minimum
tensile strength whilst the British Code requires studs
of 500 MPa minimum tensile strength, but uses design
values much lower than NAASRA's. These recom-
mendations conflict with other work which shows that
the ultimate shear strength of the connector is pro-
portional to the ultimate tensile strength of the stud
steel. This paper presents a probabilistic method of
deriving the design strengths of stud shear connec-
tors for use in the flexural design of composite steel
beam-concrete slab construction. This method takes
into account the variabilities of the factors that in-
fluence the strength of the stud connectors. The
derivation is based on existing American, British and
Australian push-out test data and properties of
Australian-made studs. This study shows that the
NAASRA Bridge Design Specification overestimates
the strength of stud connectors for cases involving
high strength concrete and/or large diameter studs.
The British values are much closer to the proposed
values, although they require higher strength studs
than are assumed in the derivation in this paper.
LIST OF SYMBOLS
d Stud diameter (mm)
Actual concrete cylinder
strength (MPa)
F', Characteristic strength of
concrete as defined in AS 1480
(Standards Association of
Australia (SAA) 1974) (MPa)
Ultimate tensile strength of stud
fs
steel (MPa)
fs mean Mean value of fs (MPa)
Characteristic (5 percentile)
Is 0.05
value of fs
H Stud height (mm)
K Arbitrary constant
N Number of studs on a beam
between the sections of zero and
maximum moment
16 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol 9, No. 4, December 1979
qu - Failure stress of stud connector
in push-out test (MPa)
qu mean Mean value of qu (MPa)
- Characteristic (5 percentile)
qu 0.05
value of (4,
Vclu Coefficient of variation of q„
VK Coefficient of variation of K
VI , Coefficient of variation of f',
c
V - Coefficient of variation of f
fs
(T qu Standard deviation of qu (MPa)
INTRODUCTION
There are wide discrepancies in the recommenda-
tions for the design strength of stud shear connectors
in bridge Codes. The NAASRA Bridge Design
Specification (1976) requires studs of 410 MPa
minimum tensile strength, with design values for ulti-
mate shear strength based on the equation proposed
by 011gaard, Slutter and Fisher (1971). The
CP117:Part II (British Standards Institution (BSI)
1967) requires studs of 500 MPa minimum tensile
strength, but uses design values much lower than
NAASRA's. These recommendations are in conflict
with the findings by Hawkins (1973), who showed
that the ultimate shear strength of the connector is
proportional to the ultimate tensile strength of the
stud steel. The discrepancies between the codes
can be seen in Figs 1 and 2.
In this paper a probabilistic method of determin-
ing the design values for stud shear connectors is
proposed. It will be shown that experimental data
from Slutter and Driscoll (1965), Chapman and
Balakrishnan (1964), 011gaard et al. (1971) and
Hawkins (1973), which are the sources of most
Codes' recommendations, can be used to derive a
common design value.
The proposed approach will allow better reflec-
tion of experimentally observed behaviour in design
practice and will take into account the variabilities of
the factors that influence the strength of the stud con-
nector. The difference between the actual com-
pressive strength of concrete quoted in test reports
and the characteristic strength of concrete used in
design will also be noted. This difference has gone
largely unnoticed in most specifications on stud con-
nector strength.
 PHAM — STUD CONNECTORS

160 240 -

220
140

d 19mm 200

120 180

H=100mm--- 160 = 30 MPo

100 -N=100 -0-
z N
H =75m5 _y 140
0
I-
U' 80
120
w
a_ a_
0 N=1 0
0 o 100
60

80

40
60

NAASRA (1976) 40
20
—•—•—• CP117: PART 2 (1967)
FROM EQ. (5) AND (6)
20 7 7' " 17 • -T '9

00 35 40
20 25 30
CONCRETE CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTH (MPc) 0
12 16 18 20
STUD DIAMETER (mm
Fig. 1 —Comparison of design loads per stud for 19 mm diameter
stud as given in (a) NAASRA (1976), (b) CP1 17 Part II (BSI Fig. 2 —Comparison of design loads for studs of varying
1967), and (c) present study diameters with F'c = 30 MPa, as given in (a) NAASRA (1 976),
(b) CP1 17 Part II (BSI 1967), and (c) present study

BASIC RELATION reduced (using eqn (1) ) to an arbitrarily chosen com-

Due to the difficulty and expense involved in testing
full size composite beams, the push-out test (such as
given in CP1 1 7:Part I (BSI 1965) ) has become an ac-
cepted means for determining connector strength.
Slutter and Driscoll (1965) have shown that the
ultimate loads from push-out test specimens provide
a lower bound to the strength of connectors in beams.
Based on a relatively small number of tests, Hawkins
(1973) proposed a load-slip relationship for stud
connectors, from which the following equation is pro-
posed for studying the strength of stud connectors:
qu = "nrcT fs/N[d—
for studs with H/d 4
in which
failure shear stress of stud con-
nectors (ultimate load/stud
rr cl 2
qU
4 VARIABILITY OF CONNECTOR
The other terms are defined in the List of Symbols.
Push-out test data from Slutter and Driscoll
(1965), Chapman and Balakrishnan (1964), 011gaard
et a/. (1971) and Hawkins (1973) are used in the
study described herein. Since most tests were per-
formed on 19 mm diameter studs, the data are
mon base of d = 19 mm, f',= 30 MPa and fs = 410
MPa for comparison. British data on concrete
strength have been modified by a factor of 0.85 to
allow for the change from cube to cylinder strength.
The results of all the tests considered in this
paper are listed in Table I. A summary of the analysis
is given in Table II. from which the following com-
ments are made.
(a) Older tests appear to have a higher mean than
more recent tests.
(b) Hawkins' tests (mainly 19 x 100 mm studs in one
row) and 011gaard et al.'s tests (mainly 19 x 75
mm in two rows) have the same mean value.
(1) (c) 19 x 100 mm studs appear to be slightly stronger
than 19 x 75 mm studs by about 8 per cent, but
this increase is not as large as that allowed in
CP117:Part II (BSI 1967) (about 16 per cent).
STRENGTH
EQUATION FOR COEFFICIENTS OF VARIATION
From eqn (1)
q u = K .11 . f /Nrcr
c s

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol. 9, No. 4, December 1979 17

 PHAM - STUD CONNECTORS

TABLE I

SUMMARY OF ALL PUSH-OUT TEST DATA CONSIDERED IN THIS PAPER

Specimen Reference Diameter Concrete Stud Steel Shear Stress Reduced Failure
(mm) Cylinder Ultimate At Failure Stress To
Strength Tensile Strength qu (MPa) Common Base
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
2 Slutter & 12 34.5 - 509.2 -
4A Driscoll 12 26.5 484.0 505.7 372.1
4B (1965) 12 30.3 488.2 488.1 333.0
3 12 34.5 - 453.0 -
P5 12 24.8 460.6 424.9 339.6
P6 12 25.4 460.6 424.9 335.5
P8 12 21.1 466.8 424.9 363.3
P1 12 24.8 460.6 386.3 308.7
P4 12 24.8 460.6 365.2 291.8
5A 16 26.1 468.9 534.9 457.7
5B 16 29.3 436.4 505.7 458.0
6F 19 33.7 494.4 542.9 424.8
6B 19 29.2 485.4 507.0 434.1
6A 19 26.7 482.0 499.2 383.9
6G 19 31.6 504.7 491.4 388.9
7H 22 23.7 566.8 516.0 453.6

PA1 Chapman & 19 30.2 522.0 437.1 342.2

PA2 Balakrishnan 19 33.4 522.0 429.4 319.6
PA3 (1964) 19 32.2 522.0 443.3 336.1
PA4 19 21.4 522.0 395.4 367.7
PA5 19 30.5 522.0 415.5 323.7
PB1 19 29.3 512.8 359.9 291.1
PD1 12 29.3 574.5 471.1 277.8
PE1 12 35.8 565.3 511.2 277.1

TABLE I (Cont)

Specimen Reference Diameter Concrete Stud Steel Shear Stress Reduced Failure
(mm) Cylinder Ultimate At Failure Stress To
Strength Tensile Strength qu (MPa) Common Base
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
A 011gaard 19 35.0 488.8 480.4 372.9
LA Slutter & 19 25.1 (average) 393.6 394.4
B Fisher 19 32.9 406.6 325.5
LB (1971) 19 18.4 279.2 298.9
C 19 29.5 339.5 289.5
D 19 33.9 360.3 267.3
E 19 29.6 349.4 296.9
LE 19 22.0 301.1 341.1
2B 19 32.9 308.3 319.0
2E 19 30.3 348.4 290.8
SA 16 27.6 484.0 451.0 363.8
SB 16 27.8 (average) 403.8 324.5
SE 16 27.6 362.6 292.5

M46.43 Hawkins 19 29.8 446.8 376.5 346.6

S46.47 (1973) 19 32.9 449.5 379.2 330.3
J46.44 19 30.6 525.4 419.9 324.4
K46.47 19 33.0 591.6 439.2 290.2
M46.89 19 62.0 448.2 521.9 332.1
M46.26 19 18.5 502.0 296.5 308.4
J46.19 19 13.6 512.3 291.6 346.6
MR46.32 19 22.5 488.8 382.0 369.9
MT46.51 19 35.4 538.5 360.6 252.7
JT46.56 19 38.9 506.8 299.9 213.1
M36.42 19 29.2 426.1 384.1 374.6
J36.58 19 39.9 521.9 389.6 265.4
M57.48 22 33.1 473.0 369.6 329.4
J57.39 22 26.6 441.3 314.4 335.0

Mean - 337.7
Standard Deviation - 53.3
Coeff. of Variation - 0.157

18 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol 9, No. 4, December 1979

 PHAM — STUD CONNECTORS

TABLE II
SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS OF PUSH-OUT TEST DATA
Number Mean Failure Standard Coefficient
of Stress Deviation of Variation
Tests (MPa) (MPa)

(i) Grouping according

to references
Slutter & Driscoll 14 381.2 56.5 0.148
Chapman & Balakrishnan 8 358.9 59.2 0.165
011gaard et a/ 13 321.3 37.7 0.117
Hawkins 15 321.7 50.0 0.156 •

(ii) 19 mm studs 33 333.4 50.2 0.151

others 17 347.8 58.0 0.169

(iii) 19 x 100 mm studs 20 342.1 53.7 0.157

19 x 75 mm studs 13 317.5 41 9 0.132

(iv) All tests 50 337.7 53.3 0.157

To a first approximation, Vqu , the coefficient of varia- Board (CRB) of Victoria record of stud testing
tion of q,,, can be calculated from (1966-1977), the following values are obtained from
18 tests.
V2 =V2 + 1/4 V 2f ' + V 2 (2)
qu K f Mean ultimate tensile strength fs mean = 460 MPa
Standard deviation (T 1 = 28 MPa
if the variability in the stud diameter is ignored, where Coefficient of Variation Vfs = 0.060
VK is the coefficient of variation arising from the use
of eqn (1). If a normal distribution is assumed, then the
characteristic (5 percentile) value is
The following sections discuss quantitatively the
components of Vqu . fs 0.05 = 414 MPa
VARIABILITY IN K For such a small coefficient of variation, similar
results are obtained from any other assumed distribu-
Data presented in Table I give the following estimate tion. More recent tests from other sources (Fletcher
on the basis of 19 mm diameter connector with f',= 1979) indicate a slightly higher mean value and a
30 MPa and f s = 410 MPa. smaller coefficient of variation. However, the CRB
Mean failure stress qu = 338 MPa data are considered more representative due to the
Standard deviation (r qu = 53 MPa long time span involved.
Coefficient of variation Vqu = 0.157
As these results are based on the measured DETERMINATION OF DESIGN
values of f', and f s ,V q,= VK = 0.157. K mean = 0.656.
STRENGTH OF CONNECTORS
VARIABILITY IN CONCRETE STRENGTH CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTH OF CONNECTORS

Australian practice requires that concrete be
specified by its characteristic strength, i.e. the value
which is exceeded by the strength of at least 95 per
cent of the concrete. The assumed variability, as
given in AS 1480 Table 4.6.3 (SAA 1974), is used in
this paper and is quoted in Table Ill.
VARIABILITY IN STUD STEEL STRENGTH
There is no published data on the variability of stud
steel strength. In Australia, most studs are made to
the American Specification AWS D1.1 (American
Welding Society 1975), which implies a minimum ten-
sile strength of 415 MPa. From the Country Roads
Assuming a normal distribution about the mean
strength, then the characteristic strength (5 percen-
tile value) of the connector is given by
clu 0.05 = qumean 1 • 65(r qu (3)
with `r qu = Vqu • qu mean (4)
Vqu is calculated from eqn (2) with VK = 0.157, Vf c =
0.119 to 0.164 (depending on F's ) and Vfs = 0.060.
For 19 mm diameter studs, the stud charac-
teristic strengths for various concrete characteristic
strengths are tabulated in Table IV for stud steel with
a characteristic (5 percentile) strength of 410 MPa.

TABLE III
ASSUMED PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE AS GIVEN IN AS1480
(SAA 1974)
Characteristic Assumed Mean Strength Coefficient
Strength (MPa) Standard (MPa) of Variation
F' Deviation (MPa)
20 4.5 27.4 0.164
25 4.8 32.9 0.146
30 5.2 38.5 0.135
40 5.9 49.7 0.119

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol. 9, No. 4, December 1979 19

 PHAM — STUD CONNECTORS
TABLE IV
CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTHS OF 1 9 mm DIAMETER STUD FOR VARIOUS CONCRETE
STRENGTHS*
Concrete
Characteristic
Strength F'c V qu
(MPa)
20 0.187
25 0.183
30 0.181
40 0.178
I s 0 05— 410 and
s mean = 455 MPa
%mean = 0.656 177 455/ ji§-
DESIGN STRENGTH OF CONNECTORS
Beam tests by Slutter and Driscoll (1965), and Chap-
man and Balakrishnan (1964) have shown that load
redistribution among the shear connectors is com-
plete before failure. The ultimate shear strength of a
group of N connectors is therefore the sum of the ulti-
mate shear strength of N individual connectors. If the
strengths of the individual connectors are normally
distributed with a coefficient of variation Vq, then the
strength of a group of N connectors has a coefficient
of variation Vq, /,/f7 Hence, the load sharing factor
(LSF), i.e. the ratio of 5 percentile values, for this
case is given by
1 — 1.65 Vqu l\TAT
LSF -
1 — 1.65 V values for 19 mm diameter studs for 75 mm and 100
qu
where N is the number of studs on a beam between
the sections of zero and maximum moment.
The design load per stud is therefore
Trd 2 crete (about 18 per cent for 30 MPa concrete) or
Load per stud = (LSF)
' . • u 0.05 • 4 diameter studs), or both, compared with the pro-
The design values of shear connectors for
various concrete strengths computed from eqn (6)
are tabulated in Table V for N = 1, 10, 100.
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ASSUMED DISTRIBUTIONS
The analysis is based on the assumption that the
failure stresses of stud connectors are normally dis-
tributed. Table VI shows the effects of different dis-
tributions on the characteristic values and the load
sharing factors for 19 mm diameter studs with =
30 MPa. It is seen that the assumption of a log-normal
distribution increases the characteristic value for 5
per cent and decreases the load sharing factor by
five per cent from those given by a normal distribu-
tion. The use of a Weibull distribution results in a
decrease in the characteristic value of 3 per cent and
an increase in the load sharing factor from 2-3 per
cent. As the net effects of different distributions on
the design value are negligible, the use of a normal
distribution is recommended for computation
because it gives a simple formula for the load sharing
effects.
20
Characteristic
Strength
qu mean quo 05
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
358 67 247
393 72 274
425 77 298
483 86 341
COMMENTS
COMPARISON WITH CP117 : PART II (BSI 1967) and
NAASRA (1976)
For 19 mm studs, the design values from CP117 : Part
II (BSI 1967) and NAASRA (1976) and the proposed
method are plotted in Fig. 1. To do this, the concrete
characteristic strengths from the British code have
been modified by a factor of 0.85 to allow for the
differences between cube and cylinder strength.
CP117 values are also given for 500 MPa minimum
tensile strength studs. Correction has not been made
to different requirements on tensile strength.
Similarly, for a concrete of 30 MPa characteristic
strength, the design values are plotted in Fig. 2 for
(5) various stud diameters. CP117 in this case gives two
mm heights. The value plotted in Fig. 2 is for a 100 mm
stud height.
From these two Figures, it is concluded that
NAASRA (1976) overestimates the strength of stud
connectors for cases involving high strength con-
(6) large diameter studs (about 30 per cent for 25 mm
posed method of analysis. CP117 values, although
given for studs of higher tensile strength, are much
nearer to those given by the probabilistic derivation.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PROPOSED METHOD
It is proposed that the design value for stud connec-
tors should be based on the concept of characteristic
strength as outlined in this paper. The reasons are as
follows.
(a) This approach is consistent with current practice
in concrete design.
(b) Variabilities in concrete, steel and push-out test
techniques are included in the derivation of the
design values;
(c) The variation of design strength with the number
of studs also reflects observed experimental
behaviour. As Hawkins (1973) has observed, for
the same size of steel beam and slab, tests using
smaller studs gave a higher shear strength than
those with larger studs, even though the connec-
tor strength, based on a summation of individual
connector strengths, was the same.
AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol 9, No. 4, December 1979
 PHAM — STUD CONNECTORS

TABLE V
DESIGN VALUES OF SHEAR CONNECTORS FOR DIFFERENT CONCRETE STRENGTHS
Design Values of Connectors for Concrete
of Characteristic Strength (MPa)

25 30 40
Stud Connector Details 20

Diameter Minimum Number

(mm) Height of Studs Load/Stud (kN)*
(mm) N
1 109 119 131 150
25 100 10 142 154 169 194
100 152 167 182 208

1 87 97 107 122
22 88 10 113 125 137 157
100 123 135 148 169

1 70 78 85 97
19 76 10 91 101 110 126
100 99 109 118 135

1 53 59 64 73
16 64 10 69 76 82 94
100 75 82 89 102

1 38 42 45 52
12 48 10 49 55 58 67
100 53 59 63 72

Load/Stud calculated from eqn (6) with:

fs 0.05 — 410 MPa
fs mean = 455 MPa
qu mean = 0.656 ,A7. 455,/d

TABLE VI
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ASSUMED DISTRIBUTION
ON THE CALCULATION FOR 19 mm DIAMETER STUDS*

Load Sharing Factor Design Load/Stud

Type Characteristic (kN)
of Value o 05
Assumed (MPa)
Distribution For For For For
N= 10 N = 100 N= 10 N= 100
Normal 298 1.319 1.421 110 118
Log-Normal 313 1.259 1.351 110 118
Weibull 289 1.348 1.464 109 117

F., = 30 MPa, fs 0.05 = 410 MPa

CONCLUSION variabilities in concrete strengths, steel strengths

This paper has proposed a probabilistic method of
determining the design strength of stud connectors
from push-out test data. Based on Hawkins' empirial
formula, American, British and Australian test data,
together with collected data on properties of
Australian-made studs, were analysed in this study.
The proposed method takes into account the
and push-out testing techniques. For Australian prac-
tice, the result shows that the NAASRA Bridge Design
Specification (1976) overestimates the strength of
stud connectors for cases involving large diameter
studs and/or high concrete strength. CP 117 (BSI
1967) design values are much closer to the proposed
values, although CP 117 requires higher strength
studs than are assumed in the derivation.

REFERENCES AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY (1975). Structural Welding Code. AWSDI. 1-75.
BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION (1965). Composite Construction in Structural Steel and
Concrete: Simply-supported Beams in Building. CP1 17: Part 1.
— (1967). Composite Construction in Structural Steel and Concrete: Beams for Bridges.
CP117: Part 2.
CHAPMAN, J.C. and BALAKRISHNAN, S. (1964). Experiments on composite beams. Struc-
tural Eng. , 42(11), Nov. pp. 369-83.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol. 9, No. 4, December 1979 21

 PHAM — STUD CONNECTORS

FLETCHER, L. (1979). Steel mains test data — Private Communication.

HAWKINS, N.M. (1973). Strength of stud shear connectors. Civil Eng. Trans. Inst. Eng. Aust.
15(1 & 2), PP. 46-52.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIAN STATE ROAD AUTHORITIES (1976). Bridge
Design Specification. (NAASRA: Sydney.)
OLLGAARD, J.G., SLUTTER, R.G. and FISHER, J.W. (1971). Shear strength of stud connec-
tors in lightweight and normal-weight concrete. A1SC Eng. J. , April, pp. 55-64.
SLUTTER, R.G. and DRISCOLL, G.C. (1965). Flexural strengths of steel — concrete com-
posite beams. Proc. ASCE. J. Structural Div. 91 (ST2), April, pp. 71-100.
STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA (1974). Concrete Structures Code.
AS1480-1974.

After graduating in Mechanical

Engineering from the University of
Tasmania in 1969, Lam Pham worked
for Gutteridge. Haskins and Davey on
the design and construction of build-
ings, water treatment systems and
waste water treatment systems He
obtained a M.Eng Sc. in 1971 and a
Ph D in 1975. both from the Civil
Engineering Department, University of
L. PHAM Tasmania He joined Maunsell and
B.E., M.Eng.Sc., Partners in 1975 and worked on the
Ph.D., M.I.E.Aust. design of rail and road bridges Since
1977 he has been a research scientist
at CSIRO Division of Building
Research. His current research in-
terests incli•je timber structures,
steel sta. ,rures. welding, reliability
based design and load combination
problems He is currently a member of
SAA Committee TM102/1 — Timber
Engineering and SAA Committee
BD/32 — Composite Construction

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank Mr F.D. Beresford and Dr R.H. Leicester for their many helpful
suggestions made during the reviewing of the manuscript.

22 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH, Vol 9, No. 4, December 1979