Shear behavior of the hollow-core partially-encased composite beams

A hollow-core partially-encased composite beam, named HPEC beam, is investigated in this paper. HPEC beam comprises Ibeam, longitudinal reinforcement, stirrup, foam formwork, and cementitious grout. The foam formwork is located on both sides of the web, and cementitious grout is cast within the steel flange. To investigate the shear performance of HPEC beams, static loading tests of six HPEC beams and three control beams were conducted. The shear span ratio and the number of studs on the shear behavior of the HPECspecimens were studied. The failure mechanism was studied by analyzing the curves of shear force versus both deflection and strain. Based on the shear span ratio (λ), two typical shear failure modes were observed: shear compression failure when 1.6 ≤ λ ≤ 2; and diagonal compression failure when λ ≤ 1.15. Shear studs welded on the flange can significantly increase the shear capacity and integrity of HPEC beams. Flange welded shear studs are suggested. Based on the deformation coordination theory and superposition method, combined with the simplified modified compression field model and the Truss-arch model, Modified Deformation Coordination Truss-arch (M.D.C.T.) model was proposed. Compared with the shear capacity from YB9038-2006 and JGJ138-2016, the calculation results from M.D.C.T. model could provide reasonable predictions.