The Influence of Shear Connectors in a Longitudinal Arrangement on Free Vibrations of Steel–Concrete Composite Beams

In this work, the role of longitudinal shear connectors in mitigating free vibrations of steel–concrete composite beams (SCCBs) is scrutinized utilizing an innovative finite element methodology. In the proposed methodology, partial shear connection between the adjacent sub-beams is considered, and the SCCBs with various stiffnesses are modeled under four common boundary conditions, namely, (a) simply supported ends (S-S), (b) one clamped end and one free end (C-F), (c) one clamped end and one simply supported end (C-S), and (d) clamped ends (C-C). Thereafter, successful verification of the proposed methodology’s efficacy is achieved through comparative analysis with the theoretical results. Lastly, a reasonable arrangement along this longitudinal direction of shear connectors is proposed based on the change law of the squared fundamental frequency ratio.