Test of shear transfer enhancement in symmetric cold-formed steel-concrete composite beams

An experimental programme was conducted to study the strength and behaviour of a bent-up tab shear transfer enhancement. Sixty eight push-out test specimens of cold-formed steel lipped channel sections (CFS) embedded in concrete planks which make use of the new proposed shear transfer enhancement called bent-up triangular tab shear transfer (BTTST) were tested in this programme. This paper summarises the results of the experimental study and develops an expression in order to predict the innovative shear transfer enhancement mechanism, BTTST in a new type of precast composite beam comprising CFS embedded in a precast concrete plank. The results show that specimens employed with shear transfer enhancements increase the shear capacities of the specimens as compared to those relying only on a natural bond between cold-formed steel and concrete. In this investigation, BTTST provided better performance in terms of strength. Furthermore the effects of different angles and sizes for BTTST, different thickness for CFS and different strengths for concrete are also discussed. It is concluded that the proposed shear transfer enhancement has sufficient strength and is also feasible. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.