Effect of silicone rubber-sleeve mounted on shear studs on shear stiffness of steel-concrete composite structures

Earlier works have shown that excessive shear stiffness at the steel-concrete interface causes a non-uniform distribution of shear force in composite structures. When the shear studs are wrapped at the fixed end with flexible materials with a low elastic modulus, the shear stiffness at the interface is reduced. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of silicone rubber-sleeve mounted on shear studs on the shear stiffness of steel-concrete composite structures. Eighteen push-out tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical behavior of silicone rubber-sleeved shear stud groups (SRS-SSG). The dimension and arrangement of silicon rubber-sleeves (SRS) were taken into consideration. Test results showed that the shear strength of SRS-SSG was higher than that of a shear stud group (SSG), without SRS. For SRS-SSG with SRS heights of 50 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm, the shear strengths were improved by 13%, 20% and 9%, respectively, compared to the SSG alone. The shear strengths of SRS-SSG with the SRS thickness of 2 mm and 4 mm were almost the same. The shear stiffness of the SRS-SSG specimens with SRS heights of 50 mm, 100 mm and 150 mm were 77%, 67% and 66% of the SSG specimens, respectively. Test results of specimens SSG-1 and predicted values based on the three design specifications were compared. The nominal single stud shear strength of SSG-1 specimens was closest to that calculated by the Chinese Code for Design of Steel Structures (GB50017-2017). An equation is proposed to consider the effects of SRS for GB50017-2017, and the predicted values based on the proposed equation agree well with the tested results of SRS-SSG.