Behavior of an Advanced Bolted Shear Connector in Prefabricated Steel-Concrete Composite Beams

The high-strength bolt shear connector in prefabricated concrete slab has advantages in applications as it reduces time during the construction of steel-concrete composite building structures and bridges. In this research, an innovative and advanced bolt shear connector in steel-concrete composite structures is proposed. To investigate the fundamental mechanical behavior and the damage form, 22 static push-off tests were conducted with consideration of different bolt dimensions, the reserved hole constraint condition, and the dimension of slab holes. A finite element (FE) model was established and verified by using test results, and then the model was utilized to investigate the influence of concrete strength, bolt dimension, yield strength, bolt pretension, as well as length-to-diameter ratio of high strength bolts on the performances of shear connectors. On the basis of FE simulation and test results, new design formulas for the calculation of shear resistance behavior were proposed, and comparisons were made with current standards, including AISC, EN 1994-1-1, GB 50017-2017, and relevant references, to check the calculation efficiency. It is confirmed that the proposed equation is in better agreement with the experimental results.