Mechanical behavior of stud shear connectors embedded in HFRC

Hybrid-fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) may provide much higher tensile and flexural strengths, tensile ductility, and flexural toughness than normal concrete (NC). HFRC slab has outstanding advantages for use as a composite bridge potential deck slab owing to higher tensile strength, ductility and crack resistance. However, there is little information on shear connector associated with HFRC slabs. To investigate the mechanical behavior of the stud shear connectors embedded in HFRC slab, 14 push-out tests (five batches) in HFRC and NC were conducted. It was found that the stud shear connector embedded in HFRC had a better ductility, higher stiffness and a slightly larger shear bearing capacity than those in NC. The experimentally obtained ultimate resistances of the stud shear connectors were also compared against the equations provided by GB50017 2003, ACI 318-112011, AISC 2011, AASHTO LRFD 2010, PCI 2004, and EN 1994-1-1 (2004), and an empirical equation to predict the ultimate shear connector resistance considering the effect of the HFRC slabs was proposed and validated by the experimental data. Curve fitting was performed to find fitting parameters for all tested specimens and idealized load-slip models were obtained for the specimens with HFRC slabs.