J. Construct. Steel Res. Vol. 38, No. 1, pp.

1-21, 1996
Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
PII: S0143-974X(96)00007-7 0143-974X/96 $15.00 + 0.00
ELSEVIER

Experimental Study on Stud Shear Connectors

Subjected to Cyclic Loading

N. G a t t e s c o a & E. Giuriani b

aDipartirnento di Ingegneria Civile, Universit~ di Udine, via delle Scienze n. 208, 33100
Udine, Italy
bDipartime,nto di Ingegneria Civile, Universit~ di Brescia, via Branze n. 38, 25100 Brescia,
Italy

(Received 12 June 1995; revised version received 7 November 1995;

accepted 22 January 1996)

ABSTRACT

Steel and concrete composite beams with deformable connections subjected

to repeated loads may force the studs during unloading to a reverse shear
load. In order to investigate the behavior of connectors in structures sub-
jected to shear there is a need of a test that can simulate as confidently as
possible the actual behavior of studs under reverse cyclic loading. For this
purpose a direct shear test is herein proposed and discussed in detail.
The test was used to study the behavior of the connectors in four speci-
mens: two of them were subjected to monotonically increasing loading while
the others were submitted to cyclic loading. The results of monotonic tests
were compared with those obtained with a standard push-out test and showed
good agreement. Cyclic tests were performed subjecting the specimens to
various blocks of cycles between two load values. These tests gave useful
information both on the shape of the load-slip curves and on the damage
accumulation at the end of each cycle. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science
Ltd.

NOTATION

L Yielding tensile stress of stud connector

Ultimate tensile strength of stud connector
Cubic compressive strength at 28 days
Q Shear force per stud connector
AQ Range between maximum and minimum shear force
Qu Ultimate shear resistance of a stud connector
q Longitudinal shear per unit length at steel--concrete interface
2 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

n Number of cycles
s Slip at interface between steel and concrete
Stui Recovered slip passing from the maximum to the minimum
shear load
As i Slip increment at the end of each cycle
Monotonic curve dimensional coefficients [Eqn (1)]
Oi Average slope of unloading shear force-slip curves

1. INTRODUCTION

The behavior of the stud connectors has been broadly investigated by many
researchers both to determine the bearing capacity under monotonic loads as
well as to study the response under repeated loads.l-7 The cyclic loading tests
were mainly focused on the problem of elastic fatigue. 1-3,5-7 In this case the
fatigue resistance does not significantly depend on the peak of the shear force
but it is strictly related to its range. Hence, tests are normally made with
unidirectional cyclic loading so that the classical push-out test can be adopted.
The behavior of stud connectors under reverse cyclic loading is of interest
in the study of some specific problems, like those concerning low-cycle fatigue
in structures subjected to repeated loads and having a connection which
deforms beyond the elastic range. In such cases some connectors yield [path
OA in Fig. 1(c)] during the loading of the structure while the steel beam is
still in the elastic range. When the load is removed the structure tends to go
back towards its initial undeformed configuration with no slip at the steel-
concrete interface so that the yielded connectors are forced to recover part of
their inelastic deformation. Hence a shear force of opposite sign occurs due
to the steepness of the unloading branch [path AB in Fig. 1(c)] according to
the results of Refs 8 and 9.
Few research papers are available concerning cyclic tests on stud connectors
subjected to reverse shear loads) '5,8 In Ref. 1 no information on the shear
load-slip relationship is given because tests were focused on the evaluation
of the life to failure of the connection for a constant loading range (high-cycle
fatigue approach). Research papers 5"8 discuss the results of some tests carried
out using the classical push-out method which was adapted to allow the rever-
sal of the load. A limited number of cycles was performed due to the onerous
test procedure, but these early results provided useful information on the ana-
lytical modeling of the stud behavior.
In Refs 9-11 the problem of both the structural and the connector behavior
have been studied in detail on small-scale specimens under repeated loads.
For cyclic loading of the stud connectors a special direct shear test was set
up in order to remove some limitations of the push-out test which were put
in evidence in Ref. 8 and herein discussed in the next section.
 Stud shear connectors 3

Loading phase
Total sup !
Total slip .L
4,
A

(a)
Unloading phase
IR~idual slip ip
.... ~ ~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i ,S
0

!I
i
'
o
Resldua slip,. Recovered sllp.
T T

! i (c)
(b)
Fig. 1. Behaviour of a composite beam: (a) loading phase; (b) unloading phase; (c) connector
shear load-slip relationship.

This idea of a special test based on a direct shear loading for the study of
full-scale stud connectors is proposed in the present paper. The specimen has
been specifically engineered to allow the use of dynamic test machines, so
that a large number of cycles can be easily performed.
The present research work aims to reach the following objectives:
• presentation of a direct shear test for cyclic loading of stud connectors;
• discussion on the features of the proposed test compared to normalized
push--out tests;
• achievement of experimental shear load-slip curves with adequate load
histo~des which describe the actual stud behavior in a composite beam
unde~r repeated loads;
• to provide a detailed experimental support for the analytical modeling of
cyclic behavior of stud connectors which is needed for numerical analyses
and computer simulation studies of composite beams under repeated
loads.

2 FEATURES OF CYCLIC TEST

The study of the behavior of a connector subjected to a large number of

reverse cyclic loading requires specimens and test procedures which have to
4 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

simulate as confidently as possible the actual behavior of the connector in the

structure. In fact, small behavior divergencies of the specimen can accumulate
at each cycle providing quite different responses after a significant number of
cycles. The push-out tests, for instance, have shown some limitations and
modeling inaccuracies 8'9 which have to be removed for a large number of
cycles.
Firstly, the friction between the two blocks of concrete and the steel plate
of the test machine [Fig. 2(a)] can produce an arch-effect which increases the
bearing capacity Q of the connector with an additional shear force dSQ due to
friction between steel flange and concrete b l o c k s . 8'12 If friction with the plate
of the testing machine is prevented [Fig. 2(b)] the same additional force d~Q
occurs and moreover the stud connector is subjected to the tensile force Fh
for equilibrium. Then the relative rotations between the steel element and the
concrete blocks, both in the plane of concrete-steel interface and in the plane
of steel web, which develop because of the asymmetric behavior of the con-
nectors, can give an incorrect measure of deformation. In fact it is impossible
to obtain both the local slip and the shear load of each connector, but only
average values. Therefore the effects of some local phenomena of one connec-
tor, which may be important for the modeling of the shear load-slip relation-
ship under cyclic loads, could not appear.
Moreover, the push-out specimen does not correctly simulate the actual
behavior of the connector since the boundary conditions of the concrete parts
are quite different. As a matter of fact, the connection shear force Q is trans-
mitted to the concrete slab by longitudinal shear flow q acting on both sides of
the element surrounding the stud, as illustrated in Fig. 3(a,b). The longitudinal
compression of the slab, due to bending moment in the beam, is negligible
where the connection shear force has great values (e.g. close to supports in
simply supported beams). So that in the specimen herein presented and dis-

F,::--i
II i
F, !
It I

l 1
Fv"~F. t TF, t
(o) (b)
Fig. 2. Equilibrium forces in push-out test (a) with or (b) without friction with the plate of
the testing machine.
 Stud shear connectors 5

• i ,

i ~ i:-:.~...~ ~ ~ ,:
oi El o i ~ •1
I I
i i
I I
J i

Ca)
(b)
i ~ ~ i
,q o RI=R2= -.M
hl~t,i!::~:::~::!]lV,=,,, M i::::::::::. "::::::::::::::::i 0
2i o

Co) Cd)
Fig. 3. StudLbehavior simulation: (a) element in the beam; (b) element in assonometricview;
(c) forces acting on the element; (d) forces acting on the specimen.

cussed in the following (Figs 4-6) no significant longitudinal compression is

applied. For the rotation equilibrium vertical shear forces V* are needed as
shown in Fig. 3(c). At the steel-concrete interface only shear Q and bending
moment M are transmitted at the bottom of the stud shank, without any normal
action because rotation equilibrium is assured by forces V*.
In order to obtain a good agreement with the situation of Fig. 3(c) a direct
shear test, based on the scheme of Fig. 3(d), is herein proposed. In this test the
opposite forces Q are aligned to reduce vertical shear forces in the concrete. In
fact force:~ R1 and R2 are needed to equilibrate only the stud moment M. A
steel tie has been used to resist action RI to avoid tension in the stud shank.
The compressive force R2 induces a friction action negligible in comparison
with the shear force Q.
The proposed test specimen for reverse cyclic loading illustrated in Figs 4 -
6 considers the above discussed aspects and aims to obtain the same conditions
of the din~ct shear test [Fig. 3(d)].
One single stud connector (a) is involved in order to obtain detailed infor-
mation about the connector behavior. Forces Q are transmitted to concrete
block (c) and steel element (b) by means of a common dynamic testing
machine [Figs 4(a,b) and Fig. 6]. Concrete block (c) is loaded through the
steel bar (g) and the reactant disks (h) and (i) [Figs 4(c,d) and Fig. 6(d)].
6 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

Steel
Steel Steel / element Steel

Q
/element /bar /I.....~ ........
~/bar
1_

Stud . ~Concrete Screwed \C~1~rete

connector block bars
(,) (b)

Screwed
bars Steel Stirrups

.... o . . . . . .

Con~'crete Concrete
struts struts

(c) (d)
Fig. 4. Schematic specimen details: (a) longitudinal section; (b) plan; (c) struts and ties in
specimen in tension; (d) struts and ties in specimen in compression.

Transmission forces in concrete are shown in Figs 4(c,d). Four longitudinal

screwed bars (f) are provided in order to avoid transversal cracks in the con-
crete when pull forces are applied to the specimen. A prestressing action quite
close to the maximum force applied has been given to the bars so to avoid
longitudinal tensile stress in the lateral concrete ribs of the specimen. These
bars make the strut and tie system illustrated in the scheme of Fig. 4(c) poss-
ible. For reverse loading the steel disk (i) permits the transmission of com-
pressive load to the concrete according to the scheme illustrated in Fig. 4(d).
Two transversal stirrups, which are located both close to the disk (h) and to
the disk (i), are provided. As a matter of fact, force Q, applied to concrete ribs
(Fig. 5) by means of the strut and tie mechanisms [Fig. 4(c,d)], equilibrates the
opposite force Q, transmitted to the slab element by the connector, with a
shear flow q at slab-rib interfaces according to the scheme of Fig. 3(b).
The rotation between steel element (b) and concrete block (c) in the plane
of the steel-concrete interface is prevented by four horizontal very flexible
steel ties (e) [Fig. 6(a)] crossing the concrete block inside elliptic tubes which
permit the longitudinal movement of steel element (b). Tensile force RI, indi-
cated in the scheme of Fig. 3(d), is provided by vertical ties (d) (8 mm
diameter) crossing the concrete inside elliptic tubes as the horizontal ties (e)
 Stud shear connectors 7

Slob
element

Concrete Concrete
ribs block
(a) (b)

~ 1 Slab
Q/2 element

Concrete
ribs
(c)
Fig. 5. Shear flow in test specimen: (a) transversal view; (b) plan; (c) assonometfic view.

[Fig. 6(c,d)]. However, the contribution to the stud resistance due to both hori-
zontal and vertical ties is always less than 0.5%. The maximum tensile force
of vertical ties has been estimated not greater than 10% of stud resistance so
that its effect on local concrete deformation around the stud can be neglected.
Steel element (b) is obtained from a steel rod of 70 mm diameter by machin-
ing the middle part along its axis to provide a plane surface corresponding to
the connec,tion interface [Fig. 6(d)]. At one end the rod has a reduced diameter
(35 mm), ~Loallow clamping into the grips of the testing machine. The other
end is coupled with bar (g) and disk (h) by means of an assembling bolt (k)
which assures the alignment between the steel elements (b) and (g) during
casting. A steel rib has been welded to element (b) to increase its stiffness.
Steel washer (j), which is put between steel element (b) and disk (h), and
assembling bolt (k) have to be removed before testing to avoid contact
between them during the reverse loading. Expanded polystyrene layers (1)
covering l~he outer parts of steel element (b) are arranged to avoid other con-
tacts with concrete besides that of the stud connector. Moreover, a thin layer
of paraffin wax is interposed along the steel-concrete interface in order to
avoid bond and to reduce friction.
 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

a) PLAN b) TRANSVERSAL SECTION

T T T

i 240 1
T T

c) LONGITUDINAL SECTION
(~ S~ud connector
(~) Steel element
(~ Concrete block
(~ Vertical steel tie=
(~ Horizontal =reel tie=
(~) Longitudinal =crewed bars
"I" V
(~ Hollow M~el bar
(~ Pull reactant disk
,L 400 200
T T T (~ Push reactant disk
÷ 600 + (~) Steel washer
(~ Auembling bar
~) Polystyrona layer
End ateel plotee
d) EXPLODED VIEW OF SPECIMEN

Stiffener
Sec. A - A

Sec. B-B

'""""""""-[------'
Fig. 6. Specimen details: (a) plan of specimen; (b) transversal section; (c) longitudinal section;
(d) exnlnd~d vie,w
 Stud shear connectors 9

The size of concrete block is important in push-out tests because it influ-

ences the bearing capacity of the connection. 5 In fact, when the concrete block
is of limited width a low ultimate load may be obtained because cracking of
concrete involves the entire block. In the proposed test the single connector
produces limited stresses in the concrete block so that no macroscopic cracks
may develop up to the connection failure as confirmed by experiments. Hence,
in the proposed test the width of the concrete part is of minor importance.

3 TEST PROCEDURE

For tests with monotonically increasing load a displacement control procedure

has been adopted imposing a constant slip rate of 0.001 mrn/s which was
measured by means of two inductive transducers LVDT (A) (Fig. 7). The
check of t]ae effectiveness of steel ties (d) and (e) (Fig. 6) against the relative
rotation be,tween concrete and steel element was done by means of dial gauges
(B) and (C). The rotation was negligible even for cyclic tests.
For reverse cyclic loading the main problem was to define a loading history
which would be representative of a stud connector of a beam subjected to
repeated loads. Some early numerical results concerning simply supported
composite beams subjected to repeated uniformly distributed loads 9-11 show
that the most loaded stud connectors can be forced to a reverse shear loading
during the unloading phase. Moreover, the recovered slip can reach a value
of about 50% of the maximum slip. 13 It is noted that the uniformly distributed
load for fatigue represents a simplified loading condition for bridges but is
accepted by some codes of practice (e.g. Italian Code) as an alternative to the
passage of standard fatigue vehicles.

a) PLAN b) SECTION Y-Y

>" (~)\~'~ (~) LVDT transducers

(~) ~) Dial gauges
Fig. 7. Gauge arrangement: (a) plan; (b) transversal section.
10 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

Different blocks of cycles have been carried out simulating various levels
of the maximum load of the beam. Each block of cycles was performed vary-
ing the shear load between two constant values and the damage accumulated
at each cycle, expressed in terms of slip increment As at the end of the cycles,
was evaluated. The minimum value of the cyclic load was chosen as a percent-
age of the peak cycle value. In particular, values ranging between 30% and
-10% of the peak load were considered. Each block of cycles was concluded
when the slip increment As reached either a null value (shakedown) or at
most a constant value.
The loading rate was kept constant and equal to about 500 N/s so that, for
a load range of 50 kN, one cycle every 200 s (0.005 Hz) was performed.
A dynamic hydraulic system (Instron 8500) was used for loading and for
data acquisition both for monotonic and cyclic tests. A global view of the
experimental apparatus is shown in Fig. 8.

4 RESULTS

The experimental results concern four specimens with the features discussed
in Section 2 (Fig. 6). The concrete was made using Portland Cement and river
aggregates of 20 m m maximum size. The compressive strength of concrete
was determined from cubes (150 mm) which were cured under the same con-
ditions with specimens. The details of mix proportion and compressive
strength of concrete are given in Table 1. Headed stud connectors were used
with the geometrical and mechanical characteristics reported in Table 2.
Two specimens have been tested with monotonically increasing load
(Table 3) to check the reliability of the proposed direct shear test by comparing
the results with those obtained using the common 'push-out method' available
in literature. 1-3"8'14 The other two specimens have been tested under cyclic
loads with the number of cycles for each load range indicated in Table 3.
The number of tested specimens is quite limited and the results are signifi-
cant only for the concrete grade and stud characteristics investigated. How-
ever, the limited scatter of the results of the two couples of specimens as well
as the special care taken to follow step by step the test progress allow the
experimental results obtained to be considered as reliable sources for the ana-
lytical modeling.
The results concerning the monotonically increasing loads are presented in
Fig. 9. The curves represent the relationship between the shear load Q and
the slip s at the steel-concrete interface. Specimen M1 [Fig. 9(a)] was loaded
up to connection yielding (3 m m slip) while specimen M2 was loaded up to
connection failure. The rupture of specimen M2 occurred with the shearing
of the stud shank preceded by a limited softening branch. The main results
are also summarized in Table 4.
 Stud shear connectors 11

Fig. 8. Experimentalapparatus view.

In the test proposed here one single connector is adopted in order to obtain
detailed information about the actual behavior of the connector under numer-
ous loading cycles as discussed in a previous section. For this_purpose the
adoption of more than one connector may hide the relevance of some
important local phenomena. On the other hand, in the determination of the
maximum static resistance of the connectors the use of four or more studs
per each specimen, as in push-out test, is preferable because the average value
so obtained reduces the scatter between different specimens. However, the
comparison among the monotonic curves obtained with 'direct shear speci-
men' M1, M2 and some curves available in the literature,3'~4 obtained as aver-
age result:~ of many push-out tests, shows a very similar behavior [Fig. 9(b)].
12 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

TABLE 1
Mix Proportions and Compressive Strength of Concrete

Mixture proportions for the concrete

Material Quantity Description

Cement 300 kg/mc Normal Portland 425

Coarse aggregate 1210 kg/mc River limestone 20 mm max.
size
Fine aggregate 730 kg/mc Natural river sand 2.5 mm
max. size
Superplasticizer 3 1/me MAC--Reobuild 716
Water-cement ratio 0.55 Tap water

Curing and compressive strength

Curing Air cured: average temp. 20°C; Relative humidity 70%

fcc -- 32.5 MPa* Cubic compressive strength at 28 days

*Average value of 16 cube samples.

TABLE 2
Geometrical and Mechanical Characteristics of Stud Connectors

Headed stud characteristics

Shank diameter 19 mm
Overall height 125 mm
Head diameter 31 mm
Head height 9 mm
Weld collar diameter 23 mm
Weld collar height 6 mm
Yielding tensile stress fy = 350 MPa
Ultimate tensile strength fu = 480 MPa

This m e a n s that the test p r o p o s e d here could be validly used for m o n o t o n i c

loading too.
In the Fig. 9(b) the shear load Q is expressed as a ratio o f the ultimate load
Qu in order to m a k e the c o m p a r i s o n possible a m o n g results f r o m different
mechanical characteristics o f concrete and steel o f studs.
T h e stud c o n n e c t i o n related to different kinds o f specimens and concrete
grades have curves (Q/Qu - s) o f the same shape, w h i c h are well fitted b y the
empirical relationship:
 Stud shear connectors 13

TABLE 3
Test Specimen Loading Pattern

Specimen Kind of Maximum load Minimum load Number of Cycles

No. loading (kN) (kN) cycles n block

M1 Monotonic Reaching of --
plastic branch
M2 Monotonic Connector failure --

C1 Cyclic 30 11.8 10 a
40 11.8 11 b
50 9.4 28 c
60 7.2 54 d
70 4.2 330 e
80 -1.2 650 f
80 -9.0 140 g

C2 Cyclic 50 2.25 25 a
70 -2.0 500 b
80 -9.0 100 c

Q ~ /3.s
= c~. 1 - e-~- + y.s, (1)

where a = 0.97, /3 = 1.3 mrn -1, ~/= 0.0045 mn] -1, as shown by the curve in
Fig. 9(b). Equation (1) is a refinement of analytical models proposed in the
literature.l 1,14,~5
Figure IL0 shows the shear load of the connection along half a beam corre-
sponding to loading and unloading phases. 9"11 The connectors near to the sup-
port are subjected to high values of the shear load, during loading, and to
negative shear load, during unloading, while those close to midspan have low
values of the shear load, at beam loading, and do not have negative shear
loads at beam unloading.
The shear load-slip curves (Q-s) for cyclic loading tests C1 and C2 are
plotted in Figs 11 and 16. The m a x i m u m and m i n i m u m load of each block
of cycles as well as the number of cycles n are reported in Table 3. The load
ranges of each block of cycles were assumed on the bases of some experimen-
tal and numerical results of beams subjected to repeated loads which were
studied in previous research works. 9'11'13
Each block of cycles of specimen C1 (Fig. 11) shows that the increment
of slip Asi (Fig. 12) at the end of each cycle tends to decrease in the first few
cycles and then to settle to a constant value as shown in Fig. 13(a,f). This
 14 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

120

100- ~ Specimen M2
°

imen MI
°

~8o-
"40-
t/)
°

20"

0 10
Slip (mm)

Ca)

~ '°l
0.8

!°61
--g0.4

~o. in/ i
Slip (ram)

(b)
Fig. 9. Monotonically increasing load tests: (a) shear load versus interface slip for tested speci-
mens; (b) comparison of test results with results in the literature (Refs 3 and 14).
 Stud shear connectors 15

TABLE 4
Test Results

Specimen Age of concrete at Maximum shear Maximum slip at Kind of failure

No. testing (days) resistance (kN) failure (mm)

M1 120 103.3 (3 mm) = No failure

M2 120 108.8 9.7 Stud shearing
C1 60 99.4 6.9 Stud sheafing
C2 60 96.1 6.6 Stud sheafing

beam loaded ,~
J=

e-
_e
.4J
/
/ ~
-'"--<'' /x i Lx¢

°--
C
:3

Q.

"0

_o
0

g ~~ - - " " ~ _ _ l ~ _ m unloaded qmin

e-
ul

0 0.5
abscissa x/~

Fig. 10. Shear force per unit length along beam axis both at loading and unloading of the
beam.

implies that a progressive damage is accumulated at each cycle. The damage

occurs both in the concrete in front of the connector [Fig. 14(a)] and in the
shank of the stud [Fig. 14(b)]. The major part of the damage in the concrete
occurs in the first few cycles and corresponds to the descending branch of
curves in ]Fig. 13. Afterwards, the increment of slip A s i tends to be constant
and it is mainly caused by the progressive damage of the shank of the stud.
Moreover, the slip increment AS i increases with the load range AQ; that means
no shakedown occurred in every group of cycles. This behavior is in agree-
ment with the results obtained for small scale studs. 13
The block of cycles (g) is characterized by a significant value of the reverse
load (about 10% of peak cycle load). In this case the slip increment A s i
increases ~tt each cycle, the accumulated damage grows rapidly up so that an
incipient connection failure should be awaited.
16 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

100 Cyclee ~roup f Cycles 9roup g

80
.- It=m,== - - .+]

z---•60
o, 4 0 ¸

tn
20

0
" " ~ ~ " ~ ~ S p e c i r n e n C1

-20 i i i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 !
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Slip (ram)
Fig. 11. She~ load-slip curves r e ~ e d to cyclic test C1.

Q
TT

.//.//
1 Sul J
T ~r S~l

Fig. 12. Notation for increment of slip at the end of each cycle and average cycle slope.

After the block of cycles (g) the residual monotonic strength was evaluated
as well as the ultimate slip and their values are reported in Table 4. The
accumulated damage during cycles reduced the monotonic strength by almost
10% and the ultimate slip by about 30%.
Another parameter characterizing the cyclic curves (Q-s) is the average
slope of the unloading branch defined as 0i = AQIs'ui (Fig. 12). In Fig. 15 the
ratio between the average slope (9,. at i-th cycle and that of the first one is
plotted against the number of cycles. For each group of cycles this ratio tends
to a nearly constant value ranging between 15% and 25% lower than the
initial value.
 Stud shear connectors 17

~,o.ooe.I Specimen
Cyclm groupClo o.~e; Specimen C1 I
t CI~ group •
E 0.o04

O.O/
0
. .
2
. .
4
.
6 Q - 1 8 . 2 i~i

. .
6
Cycles
. . .
iS I0
I ~
II
~,t0 . ~ '8.0: 100
~~100: ::~ ::"--'
200
---..
~10
-'. ' ......
300
I
o.ooej Specimen C1 o.olz]. Specimen Cl ]
"~ ] Cyckm group b
I 1 c~. gro.p f I
~*'**'1 a~-o1., ~ I
cb) t I('>

o.ooe] 'o ' ~ " ,~ " ~ " i " lb ,, - Hl J

0
~ " ~ . ~ . S p e c i __
m e Cl
n~ _ ~
O.O2O
-~ Cyckm group c Specimen C1
.o.oo4 ~ & Q - 4 0 . 6 kN Oyekm group g
0.0111
o.o/ .... ,. ~ . ~ . . v ~..v.~/..~..
0 5 10 15 :n 25
Cycles '~0.012
(g)
, o.ooej Specimen C1 I
E 1 Cy:lee group d I
< \
i(o) O,OO4

o.ot
0
. . . .

tO 20 30 40 50 ¢10
0,0
40 80 80 100 120 140
Cycles Cycle-.

Fig. 13. Increment of slip at the end of each cycle for various load ranges of specimen C1.

For specimen C2 a different load history was adopted with three blocks of
cycles (Fig. 16). Similar results as for test C1 were obtained both for the
accumulated damage, as shown by curves of Fig. 17(a,b,c) and for the average
cycle slope ratio 0/01 (Fig. 18).

5 CONCLUSIONS

The proposed experimental test based on a direct shear load applied on the
connection and the results obtained allow the following conclusions to be
drawn:
(1) For long span composite beams with deformable connection submitted
to repeated loads some connectors can be subjected to reverse cyclic
shear load. In these cases the standard 'push-out' test presents some
limits and modeling inaccuracies which may influence the value of the
fatigue life. Most of them can be removed with the proposed direct
shear test.
(2) The direct shear test proposed here was also used for monotonically
18 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

a)

b)

Fig. 14. Failure of stud connector: (a) concrete face; (b) steel element face.

~1.4 ,
Specimen C1
~1.2]

/
~-0.8
M
0.6

<~0.0 . . . . ~o . . . . 10o" " " "1~ . . . . 260 . . . . 2do'" " "~ o

Number of cycles
Fig. 15. Average cycle slope ratio versus number of cycles for specimen C l
 Stud shear connectors 19

100 C y c l u ,group c
C y c l u group b "; p. _ 8 " ~
..8o .,_____ = ,, ~ 8 8

"0 Y
,2o
0
,----- , - - - , , ~ _ - ~ ~ ~ ~ 7 Specimen C2
-20 -I ., . l l l , l l l l . . . , W . . . . | . . . . l . . l l | , . . !
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Slip (mm)
Fig. 16. She~ load-slip cu~es r e ~ e d to cyclic test C2.

O.Omj\ SpecfmenC2 [ 0~°~4"

i Specimen C2 /
~" ] "-.__ Cy¢~ groupa r ~ Cyc~ group =
÷°-4 \'°""" ,o..o.
• o .... ~ .... lb .... 1~ . . . . ~0 . . . . ~ .... no o.ol
Cyckm "~

°'mzt Specimen C2 I (c)

1 e~, gr,.p b I
÷<: 0.004]
k ~lL
0
~ a l l . . "...L_.
SZl 100 150 ZOO 2 5 0
eyci~
300 ~0
'&';"T';';',,
400 450
I(b>
500
:]
0.004

0 ........ "20" . . . . . . . "~ .......

exci~
IO" . . . . . . . "~ ....... il

Fig. 17. Increment of slip at the end of each cycle for various load ranges of specimen C2.

increasing loads. It provided results in good agreement with those

obtained with the 'push-out' test [Fig. 9(b)].
(3) The particular care taken during the test progress allowed detailed infor-
mation about the connection behavior to be obtained which provided
reliable sources for the analytical modeling.
(4) The results of the cyclic test show an increment of slip at each cycle
that becomes nearly constant after a few initial cycles (Figs 13 and 17),
which means a progressive accumulation of damage and no shakedown.
(5) For the blocks of cycles with a significant value of the reverse shear
load (about 10% of the peak load) the slip increment Asi increases at
each cycle [Fig. 13(g) and Fig. 17(c)] so the damage grows rapidly up.
20 N. Gattesco, E. Giuriani

1.4.

O
~1.0

_:O o..i
~' 0.4.
qP
o o.2.
'~ o.o .... ~0''" "100. . . . 1do" "" "zOo''' "2dm' '" "~ o
N u m b e r of c y c l e s

Fig. 18. Average cycle slope ratio versus number of cycles for specimen C2.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The financial support of the Italian Ministry of the University and the Scien-
tific Research (M.U.R.S.T. 60%) is gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES

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3. Menzies, J. B., C.P. 117 and shear connectors in steel-concrete composite beams
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 Stud shear connectors 21

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