Static behaviour of multi-row stud shear connectors in high- strength concrete

In regions of high shear forces in composite bridges, headed stud shear connectors need to be arranged with a small spacing in order to satisfy the design requirement of resisting the high interface shear force present at this location. Despite this, studies related to groups of headed studs are somewhat rare. This paper presents an investigation of the static behaviour of grouped stud shear connectors in high-strength concrete. Descriptions are given of five push-out test specimens with different arrangements of the studs that were fabricated and tested, and the failure modes, load-slip response, ultimate load capacities and related slip values that were obtained are reported. It is found that the load-slip equation given by some researchers based on a single stud shear connector in normal strength concrete do not apply to grouped stud shear connectors in high-strength concrete, and an algebraic load-slip expression is proposed based on the test results. Comparisons between the test results and the formulae provided by some national codes show that the equations for the ultimate capacity provided in these codes are conservative when used for connectors in high-strength concrete. A reduction coefficient is proposed to take into account the effect of the studs being in a group.