Shear behavior of short headed studs in Steel-ECC composite structure

Abstract Engineering cementitious composite (ECC) is a promising candidate as the overlay material of orthotropic steel bridge deck (OSBD), to improve the durability and extend the service life. The mechanical performance of short headed stud connectors in steel-ECC composite structure has been limited studied. This study investigated the shear behavior of short headed studs embedded in ECC through experimental push-out tests and validated finite element (FE) analysis. The experimental and analytical results were analyzed accordingly in terms of shear strength, shear stiffness and failure mode. The push-out testing results showed that the existence of natural interfacial bond was beneficial for improving the initial stiffness of the specimen. The FE simulation results agreed well with the experimental ones. Base on the validated FE model, a parametric analysis was then conducted to investigate the influence of the stud diameter, stud height, stud strength, corrosion of stud, and compressive strength of ECC on the shear capacity of short headed studs. The analysis indicated that the diameter and tensile strength of headed stud had a significant improvement on the shear strength of headed studs, while the stud height and compressive strength of ECC exhibited the opposite trend. The corrosion of stud drastically reduced the shear performance of headed studs in terms of shear strength and ductility. It was also observed that AASHTO LRFD specification overestimated the shear strength of short headed studs embedded in ECC, while the Eurocode 4 and Chinese code were relatively conservative.