Composite Construction

What is Composite Construction?

Composite construction is a method of construction that is used in a variety of engineering and building
applications. Employing dissimilar components, such as concrete and steel or fiberglass and foam, for a
single use or structure is called composite construction. The goal of composite construction is the
unification of the individual component properties to create a composite material that possesses the
desired properties of all component pieces. Aircraft, watercraft and building construction are the three
most common examples of industries that rely on composite construction techniques.

When this form of construction is employed in the engineering and manufacturing process, it serves a
few basic functions. Using composite materials, engineers and builders can create products that are
stronger, more durable, lighter and lower in costs than traditional materials. Composite materials have
made it possible for structural engineers and manufacturers to create products that would have been
physically impossible with traditional construction materials.

Composite construction can enhance the strength of a single component, such as reinforced
concrete that uses steel rebar to enhance the strength of the concrete. By pairing the concrete with the
steel rebar, the original strength of the concrete is improved. This is because the rebar helps spread any
impact or load exerted on the concrete evenly over a larger area.

The process of composite construction is also used to create composite materials that weigh less or are
more durable than the individual components. This type of composite material is often used in the
construction of aircraft and watercraft in which lightweight foam is paired with a durable aluminum or
hard plastic shell. A solid aluminum aircraft would be too heavy for sustained flight, and a foam aircraft
would not be durable enough for continued use, but by pairing a thin aluminum skin with the foam,
engineers can create a composite material that is both lightweight and durable.

In the process of making homes or other buildings, composite construction also comes into play.
Composite materials used in homes and other buildings are often used for increased strength, durability,
insulation or other factors. When paired with structural engineering techniques, composite materials
and composite construction can yield many advantages in the construction of homes and other
buildings. Using composite construction to join individual components of a structure together, such as
the floor panels to the joists, both component structures act together as one and have more strength
than the individual components would have.
Composite construction

Composite construction is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple
dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft,watercraft, and building
construction. There are several reasons to use composite materials including increased
strength, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability. It is not to be confused with the composite
order which is a specific order of classical architecture that combines elements of
the Ionic and Corinthian orders.

Structural engineering

In structural engineering, composite construction exists when two different materials are bound
together so strongly that they act together as a single unit from a  structural point of view. When this
occurs, it is called composite action. One common example involves steel beams
supporting concrete floor slabs.[1] If the beam is not connected firmly to the slab, then the slab transfers
all of its weight to the beam and the slab contributes nothing to the load carrying capability of the beam.
However, if the slab is connected positively to the beam with studs, then a portion of the slab can be
assumed to act compositely with the beam. In effect, this composite creates a larger and stronger beam
than would be provided by the steel beam alone. The structural engineer may calculate a  transformed
section as one step in analyzing the load carry capability of the composite beam.

House building

A flitch beam is a simple form of composite construction sometimes used in North American light frame
construction.[2] This occurs when a steel plate is sandwiched between two wood joists and bolted
together. A flitch beam can typically support heavier loads over a longer span than an all-wood beam of
the same cross section.

Deck Construction

Composite Wood Decking

The traditional decking material is pressure treated wood. The current material many contractors
choose to use is composite decking. This material is typically made from wood-plastic composite or
Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP). Such materials do not warp, crack, or split and are as versatile as
traditional pressure treated wood. Composite decking is made through several different processes, and
there are a multitude of sizes, shapes, and strengths available. Depending on the type of composite
selected the decking materials can be used for a number of other construction projects including fences
and sheds.[3][4]

Composite Steel Deck

In a composite steel deck, the dissimilar materials in question are steel and concrete. A composite steel
deck combines the tensile strength of steel with the compressive strength of concrete to improve design
efficiency and reduce the material necessary to cover a given area. Additionally, composite steel decks
supported by composite steel joists can span greater distances between supporting elements and have
reduced live load deflection in comparison to previous construction methods. [5][6][7]

Cement-Polymer Composites

Cement-polymer composites are being developed and tested as a replacement for traditional cement.
The traditional cement used as stucco rapidly deteriorates. The deterioration causes the material to
easily crack due to thermo processes becoming permeable to water and no longer structurally sound.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency in conjunction with Materials and Electrochemical
Research Corporation tested a cement-polymer composite material consisting of crumb rubber made
from recycled rubber tires and cement. It was found that 20% crumb rubber can be added to the
cement mixture without affecting the appearance of the cement. This new material was tested for
strength and durability using American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) standards.

High Performance Composites

A newer but growing sector in the composite construction sector is the high performance decking that
comes from companies like Trex Decking and Fiberon. High performance composite decking has
emerged in recent years to combat earlier generations of composite decking like wood plastic composite
(WPCs) that were struggling to maintain credibility in the marketplace. Research is showing now,
however, that consumers are choosing composite decking products over wood 11 times to 1. Initial
concerns regarding moisture intrusion in composite decks has led to the rise of high performance
decking products with protective shells, often referred to as “capped composite decking.”

Capped composite decks have a high performance finish with the addition of the shell that is often
called a “cap-stock.” This shell covers either all four sides of the composite board or just the top and
sides, depending on the brand. Manufacturers apply the cap to the board using a process called co-
extrusion. Most capped composite decking comes with some kind of warranty against stains and fading.

How and why composite construction works

The plastic stress distribution in a typical downstand beam acting compositely with a composite slab is
shown. The relative proportions of the steel section and slab mean that, as is commonly the case, the
plastic neutral axis lies within the concrete. All the steel is therefore in tension.
 Plastic stress distribution in a composite beam

Concrete is a material that works well in compression but has negligible resistance in tension. Hence for
structural purposes it traditionally relies on steel reinforcement to carry any tensile forces (this is the
role played by the steel part of a composite cross section, which is effectively external reinforcement),
or must be pre-stressed so that even when subject to tension, an element is in net compression.

Composite floor components – downstand edge beam, longitudinal trapezoidal decking, through deck

welded shear stud, edge trim and concrete

For the concrete part (within the so-called effective width) of a cross section to carry compression, and
the steel part to carry tension, the two materials must be structurally tied together. For downstand
beams this is achieved using headed shear studs, which are attached to the upper flange of the steel
beam. This attachment is normally achieved with so-called through deck welding. The profiled metal
decking that forms the basis of the composite slabs is sandwiched between the base of the stud and the
top flange, and the welding process joins all three together. The presence of galvanizing on
the decking does not affect weld quality.
In exceptional circumstances through deck welding can be avoided by using single span lengths
of decking (which butt up to rows of studs welded directly to the top flange in the fabrication shop), or
cutting holes in the decking so that it can be dropped over the shop welded studs.

Other forms of shear connection are available, including larger diameter studs and shot-fired
connectors, but for buildings by far the most common option is 19 mm diameter headed studs. Their
resistance according to BS EN 1994[4], when used with transverse decking is less than the resistance
given in BS 5950-3-1[1]. Also, BS EN 1994[4] states that not more than two studs can be used per trough
when the decking runs transverse to the beam axis.

One of the advantages of welded studs is that they are considered to be ductile, which means that (in
the absence of any fatigue considerations) the connection can be designed using plastic principles
because it is assumed that force can be transferred between adjacent studs. This greatly simplifies the
design process.

Through deck welding of shear studs (transverse re-entrant decking)

When a beam is designed with full shear connection it means that sufficient connectors are present to
either fully fail the concrete in compression, or fully fail the steel section in tension (whichever is the
smaller force). Reduced numbers of connectors may however be used, resulting in so called partial shear
connection. This usually happens if the applied loading is at a low enough level, for example, in the
common cases where a beam design is governed by construction stage or serviceability considerations.
However, codes also specify a certain minimum degree of connection that is needed to prevent
excessive slip between the steel and concrete, which would result in failure of the connectors.

BS 5950-3-1[1], which was written in the 1980s, took a fairly simplistic approach to the issue of
minimum degree of shear connection. BS EN 1994[4] recognizes two additional parameters that
influence this minimum degree, namely grade and the effect of asymmetry when one of the beam
flanges is larger than the other (a smaller top flange is often used as the concrete carries most of the
compression, but such asymmetry places higher demands, in terms of slip capacity, on the shear studs).
For S275 steel and symmetric sections the limits in BS EN 1994[4] are considerably less onerous than
those found in BS5950[1]. For asymmetric beams they are considerably more onerous. Even
BS EN 1994[4] fails to recognize the considerable benefits when the beam is unpropped during
construction, as most are. NCCI produced by SCI (Pn002a ) allows the minimum degree of connection to
be relaxed when a beam is unpropped.

The benefit of joining the steel and concrete together structurally is to increase the resistance of the
steel beam alone; typically this will be by around a factor of two. The stiffness may increase by up to a
factor of three. The relative benefits decrease with span, as the size of the steel beam increases relative
to the size of the slab.

Steel frame with |composite beams during construction (Image courtesy of Structural Metal Decks Ltd.)

The components of a composite beam are as described above, but the same principles apply
to composite slabs and composite columns. A slab uses profiled steel decking in place of a steel section,
and force is transferred via embossments and certain aspects of the deck geometry (rather than discrete
shear studs). A composite column may be either a hollow section steel tube filled with concrete, or
an open steel section encased in concrete. Force is transferred between the two materials by friction
and, where needed, discrete mechanical connectors, including shear studs that may be attached to an
embedded steel section. With all forms of composite construction it is important for the designer not to
forget the construction stage. Assuming that there is no temporary propping, the steel part of a
composite cross section must alone resist self weight and other construction loads as the concrete at
that stage is ineffective. Not only is the resistance less, but there may be instability phenomena to
consider. When acting compositely the top flange of a steel beam is restrained laterally by the slab, but
during construction lateral torsional buckling (LTB) may reduce the effective resistance - only when the
decking runs transversely and is properly fixed does it prevent LTB - further guidance is available
covering both design, in SCI P359 , and detailing, in SCI P300.

Types of composite beam

Three general types of composite beam are considered below. The drivers that are relevant to a
particular project will affect which flooring system is the most appropriate.

Downstand Beams

Exposed ends of precast units ready for reinforcement and in-situ concrete

The most common type of composite beam is one where a composite slab sits on top of a downstand
beam, connected by the use of a through deck welded shear studs. This form of construction offers a
number of advantages - the decking acts as external reinforcement at the composite stage, and during
the construction stage as formwork and a working platform. It may also provide lateral restraint to the
beams during construction. The decking is lifted into place in bundles, which are then distributed across
the floor area by hand. This dramatically reduces the crane lifts when compared with a  precast based
alternative.

Further guidance on practical aspects of decking placement may be found in the best practice guide SCI
P300.

Another common type of composite beam is one where, as with a traditional non-composite steel
framed solution, a precast concrete slab sits on top of the top flange of the steel beam. The effective
span range for this type of solution is around 6 to 12 m, which therefore makes it a competitor to a
number of concrete flooring options. Particular detailing is required for the shear connection
when precast units are used, so that the body of the precast units can be mobilised as part of the
concrete compression flange. See SCI P287 for more information.

Long Span Solutions

A number of variations on the idea of downstand beams are available to meet long-span needs. They
provide the opportunity to achieve longer spans (20 m or more) than are possible using a
'standard' solid web, rolled downstand beam.
Shallow floor solutions

Shallow floors offer a range of benefits , which must be considered in the context of a given project to
identify when they are most appropriate.

A number of shallow floor solutions are available, including a range of rolled and fabricated options from
Tata Steel. The unique ASB - Asymmetric Slimflor Beam - is rolled with a wider bottom flange than that
found at the top. This geometrical form is common to all shallow floor solutions, as it enables the slab to
sit on the upper surface of the bottom flange - rather than the upper surface of the top flange as found
with downstand beams. Tata Steel also produces fabricated beams based on open and hollow sections
(SFB and RHSFB) with a plate welded to the lower flange to achieve this geometry.

ASB with composite slab and service integration, the Slimdek system

The slab may be either in-situ concrete on deep (225 mm) steel decking, or precast concrete. Because
the slab sits on the bottom flange, a key consideration is torsion applied to the beam. For internal beams
this will mainly be a concern during construction, requiring appropriate sequencing to minimise torsion.
Edge beams must be designed to carry torsion in the final state, making the RHSFB a good option given
the torsional resistance and stiffness of hollow sections.

An ASB with composite slab is shown. The shallowness of the floors is achieved by placing the slabs and
beams within the same zone. An added benefit is that a flat soffit is achieved - there are none of the
interruptions found with downstand beams. Encasing the steel sections within the slab also has benefits
in terms of fire performance, with (often) no need to use added fire protection.

Shallow floor solutions are valid for a span range of around 4 to 9 m. Some solutions achieve composite
action between the steel beams and concrete by using discrete mechanical shear connectors - much like
a downstand beam - whilst others achieve this primarily by wedging the concrete between the steel
flanges. For ASBs the composite action is enhanced by the presence of a profiled pattern rolled into the
upper surface of the top flange. Friction then prevents interface slip as the beam is loaded and deflects,
providing a reliable form of shear connection to assure the strength and stiffness of the composite
element.
Composite Slabs

Composite slabs comprise reinforced concrete cast on top of profiled steel decking, which acts as
formwork during construction and external reinforcement at the final stage. The decking may be either
re-entrant or trapezoidal, as shown below. Trapezoidal decking may be over 200 mm deep, in which
case it is known as deep decking. Additional reinforcing bars may be placed in the decking troughs,
particularly for deep decking. They are sometimes required in shallow decking when heavy loads are
combined with high periods of fire resistance.

Re-entrant decking Trapezoidal decking

Re-entrant and trapezoidal decking

The figure below shows the geometry of a typical 80 mm trapezoidal deck. The steel is galvanized and
may be of varying thickness, although about 1 mm is typical. Because it is so thin, there is a need for
stiffeners to avoid local buckling when it is acting as a bare steel section to support the wet weight of
concrete and other construction loads. The re-entrant stiffener shown at the top of the decking not only
stiffens the upper flange but can also be used to support hangers for relatively lightweight items
suspended from the soffit. Interlock is achieved through embossments (dimples) that are rolled into the
decking profile, and by trapping the concrete around the re-entrant parts of the profile. There are no
standard decking profiles, so the interaction achieved by the embossments, etc of each propriety deck is
different. It is determined by tests undertaken by the deck manufacturer.

Geometry of typical 80 mm trapezoidal decking

The results of such tests have traditionally been translated into so-called m and k empirical constants
that define the performance of a particular deck. BS EN 1994[4] also includes an option to determine the
shear bond per unit area of slab (τ), which can then be used as part of a more sophisticated approach
(the τ value is analogous to the resistance of a shear stud). Designers obtain the relevant information
(implicitly) from software or brochures provided by the decking manufacturers.
The profiled decking is often designed to be continuous over two spans when acting as formwork.
Composite slabs are normally designed to be simple spanning at room temperature, but continuous
under fire conditions. This continuity is achieved thanks to nominal reinforcement, which also fulfils
other roles such as crack control, that continues over intermediate supports (its influence - assumed to
be beneficial - is ignored for room temperature design).

Re-entrant or trapezoidal decking of 50 to 60 mm depth can span around 3 m unpropped, 80 mm deep
trapezoidal profiles can span up to around 4.5 m unpropped, and deep decking can achieve around 6 m.
Overall slab depths range from 130 mm upwards. Two hours fire resistance can be achieved without the
need to fire protect the steel decking.

It is possible to form openings in composite slabs, although this should be planned and the openings
formed at the construction stage rather than having to cut out concrete. Openings up to 300  mm square
require no additional provisions, those up to 700 mm require additional reinforcement locally around
the opening, and those in excess of 700 mm require the use of trimming steel to support the opening.

Further guidance on the design and detailing of composite slabs is given in SCI P359 and SCI
P300 respectively. Fire design to the Eurocodes is discussed in SCI P375.

Composite columns

Composite columns may take a range of forms, as shown in the figure below. As with all composite
elements they are attractive because they play to the relative strengths of both steel and concrete. This
can result in a high resistance for a relatively small cross sectional area, thereby maximising useable
floor space. They also exhibit particularly good performance in fire conditions.

Typical composite column cross sections

Design rules for composite columns in structural frames are given in BS EN 1994-1-1[4]. This is the first
time that guidance has been given in a code for use in the UK, which may explain why composite
columns have been rarely used to date. Rules are provided for composite H sections, either fully or
'partially encased' (web infill only), and for concrete filled hollow sections. Typical cross sections are
shown. Composite columns requiring formwork during execution tend not to be viewed as cost-effective
in the UK.
Concrete filled hollow section compression members need no formwork and they use material more
efficiently than an equivalent H section. Concrete infill adds significantly to the compression resistance
of the bare steel section by sharing the load and preventing the steel from buckling locally. The gain in
fire resistance may be at least as valuable, especially if it permits the column to be left unprotected or
only lightly protected. Infill concrete retains free water which in other situations would be lost; its latent
heat of evaporation significantly delays temperature rise.

Rectangular and circular hollow sections can be used. Rectangular sections have the advantage of flat
faces for end plate beam-to-column connections (using Flowdrill or Hollo-bolt connections). Ordinary fin
plates can be employed with either shape.

A program, FireSoft, for the design of concrete filled hollow sections in ambient and fire conditions has
been developed.