Behaviour of long span composite beams with precast hollow-core slabs

The use of precast hollow-core concrete slabs with Fabsec steel beams in composite construction has had little research conducted in this area. The main purpose of the research is to develop an understanding into the
behaviour of this form of construction and to demonstrate the advantages of using Fabsec beams with precast hollow-core concrete slabs.

To achieve this, five full scale bending tests were carried out supplemented by horizontal push tests. In addition to the experimental work described, an analytical study is conducted and design recommendations are made. The
main issues were the compression behaviour of the hollow-core slabs and the transfer of the horizontal shear forces between the steel beam and the concrete slab.

The aim of the research is to investigate the performance of composite beams with the position of the neutral axis in the concrete and also establish the effective width. By varying the beam size, span of beam, shear connection and slab depth in five full-scale experiments, the behaviour of the composite beam will be established.