Elastic stiffness of perfobond connections in composite structures

Perfobond rib connectors are widely used in composite structures to achieve the composite action between the steel and the concrete, and empirical expressions for their strength and secant stiffness have been obtained by numerical simulations or push-out tests. Since perfobond connections are generally in an elastic state in the service process and the structural analysis are always based on the elastic properties of the members, the secant stiffness is not applicable for the normal structural analysis. However, the tangent stiffness of perfobond connections has not been introduced in previous studies. Moreover, the perfobond connections are bearing tension and shear force simultaneously when the composite beams subjected to torque or local loads, but the current studies fail to arrive at the elastic stiffness considering the combined effects. To resolve these discrepancies, this paper investigates the initial elastic stiffness of perfobond connections under combined forces. The calculation method for the elastic stiffness of perfobond connections is analyzed, and the contributions of the perfobond rib, the perforating rebar and the concrete dowel are investigated. A finite element method was verified with a high value of correlation for the test results. Afterwards, parametric studies are carried out using the reliable finite element analysis to explore the trends of several factors. Empirical equations for predicting the initial elastic stiffness of perfobond connections are proposed by the numerical regression of the data extracted by parametric studies. The equations agree well with finite element analysis and test results, which indicates that the proposed empirical equations reflect a high accuracy for predicting the initial elastic stiffness of perfobond connections.