Parametric investigations on shear behavior of perforated transverse angle connectors in steel-concrete composite bridges

The perforated transverse angle connectors (PTACs), that posses excellent shear capacity and good ductility, have been proposed to address the casting obstruction of the bottom concrete decks in prestressed composite (PC) box girder with corrugated steel webs (CSPWs). The structural performance of steel-concrete composite bridges largely depends on the behavior of the mechanical shear connectors. In this study, numerical analyses on the shear behavior of the PTAC were performed. The finite element (FE) model was developed using ABAQUS and validated by comparing its predictions with test data available in the literature. The comparisons indicated that the numerical model could reflect the experimental results closely. Parametric studies were then carried out to determine the influential factors on the PTAC shear capacity. It was found that the shear strength of the PTAC increased linearly with the increase of the concrete strength. The flange and web thickness had great effect on the PTAC shear capacity, while the flange and web height slightly influenced. The group PTAC arrangement had a significant influence on the shear strength and this effect can be ignored when the spacing was more than 400 mm. In addition, the perforating rebar contributed little to the shear capacity but obviously enhanced the ductility. The FE analysis results were used to verify the applicability of the current design provisions for the PTAC shear strength. It was noted that the formulas in these provisions conservatively predict the shear strength due to the effect of the flange welded on the steel girder was ignored. An empirical formula was developed to evaluate the shear strength of angle shear connectors. The mean of the ratio of the predicted results to test ones ranged from 0.981 to 1.018, which denoted the proposed design formula could accurately be used to predict the PTAC shear capacity.