Partial shear connection design of composite beams

Composite steel and concrete beams can fail prematurely when the slip capacity of the shear connection between the steel and concrete elements of the composite section is exceeded. National standards try to prevent premature failure by placing limits to the minimum strength of the shear connection in a beam. These limits depend on the slip capacity of the shear connection and on the length of the beam. However, because they do not take into account the geometric and material properties of the beam, these design rules tend to be overconservative and hence place undue limitations on the use of composite beams. An accurate design procedure will be described that allows the composite beam to be designed for all degrees of the connection. The procedure also depends on the degree of shear connection, the slip capacity of the connectors, the length of the beam, the elastic and plastic properties of the composite beam, the distribution of the shear connectors and the distribution of the applied loads.