Investigating The Behavior of Steel-Concrete Composite Arch Beam with Different Types of Shear Connectors

Composite steel-concrete arch beams are used in civil engineering. The effect of the shear connector type on the behavior of this type of beam was to act as the first parameter in this study. The test used four types of shear connectors: stud, angle, perfobond, and rebar. The second parameter involved two composite section types: steel I-section-concrete composite arch members (SICM) and steel plate-concrete composite arch members (SPCM). A total of eight samples were prepared in two groups. The first used the SICM and four connector types to get four samples: stud (SI), angle (AI), perfobond (PI), and rebar connector (RI). The second used the SPCM and the same connectors to get SP, AP, PP, and RP, respectively. All samples were tested under one concentrated load at the top of the arch with fixed supports at both ends. A push-out test for the four connector types was also conducted. For all samples, the SICM showed a higher ultimate load than the SPCM. For the SICM, the samples had close values for the maximum load, with the PI sample having the highest. For the SPCM, the SP sample recorded maximum load and deflection. The failure shear crack in all samples appeared at the top of the concrete in the arch beam crown and extended to the bottom, making an angle between 30-45 degrees. It was concluded that the main reason for the failure was the high vertical slips for the top connectors; therefore, the connectors should be designed to resist high tensile forces, and the transverse reinforcing bar should be carefully placed and sized.