Local buckling of thin steel plates in composite construction: Experimental and theoretical study

Composite steel-concrete members may undergo local buckling of their component steel plates when subject to compressive stresses, caused by a combination of axial force and bending moments, This paper provides an extensive experimental study based on a so-called push test to assess the initial elastic and inelastic local buckling and the post-local buckling characteristics of steel plate when in contact with concrete, A theoretical model developed elsewhere based on the semi-analytical finite strip method is shown to be in good agreement with the experiments, A post-local buckling model is also found to agree well with the experimental results, Members to which this research may be applied include profiled composite slabs, profiled composite beams, profiled composite walls, composite steel-concrete columns and composite steel-concrete tee-girders.