EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF STEEL-UHPC COMPOSITE SLABS WITH PERFOBOND RIB SHEAR CONNECTORS

A new type of steel-ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) composite slab with perfobond rib shear connectors (PBL shear connectors) is studied, which can be used as large-span bridge decks and floors in buildings. According to the deck system of an ultra-long-span composite cable-stayed bridge, full-scale tests on three steel-UHPC composite slabs (SUCS) and a steel-C60 composite slab (SCCS) were conducted. The influence of the number and type of shear connectors were investigated. The experimental results demonstrate that, subjected to concentrated load, typical flexural failure of SUCS occurred while punching failure of SCCS occurred; that the SUCS possessed much higher ultimate capacity, rigidity and ductility than the SCCS with the same thickness did; that the specimen with sufficient perfobond rib shear connectors exhibited the best mechanical performance among the three SUCSs. Elaborate finite element models of the SUCSs were established in ABAQUS, which can reproduce the load-deflection curves obtained from the tests. Parametric study is conducted adopting the established finite element models.