Research on the shear behavior of PBL connectors in steel

fiber reinforced concrete composite beam

 Hangbin Chai,
 Haoxuan Wu,
 Yurui Zhang,
 Jiayu Zhou,
 Dewen Liu,
 Yue Yu &
 Wenyuan Liao

Scientific Reports volume 15, Article number: 5824 (2025) Cite this article
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Abstract

PBL (Perfobond Leiste) shear connectors are commonly employed in steel-

concrete composite beams. In this study, the incorporation of steel fibers into
concrete enhanced its mechanical properties, allowing PBL shear connectors
to fully exert their shear performance. Through experiment and finite element
simulation analyses on specimens, the influences of various parameters such
as steel fiber content, steel fiber diameter, steel fiber length, diameter and
length of the through reinforcement in the PBL shear connectors, plate
thickness, diameter of openings, and the number of openings on the
mechanical properties and failure modes of the specimens were investigated.
The results indicate that the incorporation of steel fibers significantly improves
the shear performance of concrete slabs and effectively restricts crushing and
splitting. Compared with increasing the fiber diameter, increasing the fiber
length can enhance the ultimate bearing capacity more effectively, and longer
fibers have a more remarkable effect on restricting cracks. The diameter,
length of the through reinforcement and the number of openings in the PBL
shear connector have a relatively minor impact on the ultimate bearing
capacity. Excessive openings will weaken the bearing capacity of the PBL shear
connectors. Increasing the thickness of the PBL slab and the steel fiber
reinforced concrete tenons have a better synergistic effect, which can
significantly improve the shear performance of the specimens.

Introduction

Steel-concrete composite beams form coordinated working member units by

means of the composite action1provided by connectors, which fully exploits
the distinct mechanical properties of steel and concrete. In the lower tensile
zone of the composite beam, the steel with high tensile strength undertakes
the tensile force, while in the upper compressive zone, the concrete with
excellent compressive performance bears the pressure2. Compared with
traditional reinforced concrete structures3, steel-concrete composite beams
significantly reduce their self-weight, possess good seismic performance4,
feature rapid construction5and have relatively low costs. Meanwhile, they
enhance the ultimate bearing capacity and deformation ability, making the
failure show signs in advance. Consequently, the application rate of traditional
steel-concrete composite beams in high-rise and super high-rise buildings is
increasing. The composite action needs to be achieved through shear
connectors, and the composite effect directly influences the working
performance of steel-concrete composite beams. Compared with the common
flexible shear connector-studs6,7,8, PBL shear connectors9,10,11possess better
strength, stiffness, and shear performance and are widely used in bridge
engineering12 and high-rise building structures.

To date, a substantial number of researchers have conducted research work

on composite materials and composite structures incorporated with steel
fibers to meet the high requirements of modern engineering for material and
structural properties. Several researchers(Ren13, Cao14) have investigated the
influences of steel fiber types and matrix strength on the mechanical
properties of cement-based composite materials. The results indicate that
micro-straight steel fibers are more prominent in enhancing the mechanical
strength of cube specimens, and it has been found that the content of steel
fibers can interact with the matrix shear strength in a coupled manner, thereby
improving the shear capacity of composite materials. In actual engineering
projects, due to the influences of wall effect, fiber content, specimen shape,
and manufacturing processes, etc., steel fibers tend to be unevenly distributed
within the matrix15. Mu16,17studied the impact of steel fiber orientation on
cement-based composite materials, and the results revealed that oriented
steel fibers enhance the shear and bending properties of the materials, and
the effect is positively correlated with the steel fiber content. Monteiro18added
different fiber types to self-compacting concrete to explore their influences on
the mechanical properties. Among them, the addition of steel fibers can
significantly increase the mechanical properties of composite materials.
Conventional concrete exhibits excellent bearing capacity; however, it
performs poorly in terms of tensile and crack resistance properties. Therefore,
Nguyen19conducted a flexural study on six composite beams with different
thicknesses and positions of steel fiber layers to determine the optimal layout
of steel fibers. Several researchers (He20, Yoo21) designed steel-concrete
composite beams using ultra-high-performance steel fiber-reinforced
concrete. The results demonstrated that steel fibers can increase the integrity
and crack resistance of concrete slabs and improve the ductility of composite
beams. Moreover, the steel-concrete composite beams with added steel fibers
can also significantly increase the cracking load and reduce the crack width
under negative bending moment22. Zhang23designed 22 push-out test
specimens to study the shear performance of high-strength bolts in steel-steel
fiber concrete composite beams and verified the reliability of the results
through finite element analysis. Several researchers (Wu24, Xu25,26) considered
the construction and binding problems of section steel and reinforcing bars in
actual engineering and proposed to replace reinforcing bars, studs, and other
components with steel fibers in composite beams to shorten the construction
period and simplify the construction. Furthermore, since the shear mechanism
of steel fiber reinforced concrete beams is rather complex, Negi27has
established a mathematical model that takes multiple shear mechanisms into
account. The aim of this model is to predict its shear strength, and he has also
proposed replacing traditional transverse reinforcement with steel fibers,
thereby reducing costs28. Dinh29put forward a model for predicting, through
experiments, the shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete beams
without stirrup reinforcement. This model has relatively high accuracy and is
superior to some existing models. Hassanin30,31,32explored the cyclic loading
and fatigue behaviors of steel-concrete composite beams. He studied the
performance of externally post-tensioned prestressing tendon-strengthened
composite beams under cyclic loading, clarifying the influences of
strengthening effect and shear connection. Using the finite element model, he
investigated the failure modes under fatigue loading and revealed relevant
influences. Moreover, he discussed the influence of shear stud distribution,
verified relevant models and evaluated the applicability of existing codes,
providing references for related work. El-Sisi33 developed a two-node beam
element model with eight degrees of freedom. It has been verified by
experiments that this model can accurately simulate the performance of
composite beams. Moreover, through parametric studies, the influences of
relevant factors have been revealed.

The aim of this study is to improve the mechanical properties of concrete by

adding steel fibers to the concrete part of the steel-concrete composite beam
(Fig. 1, created using SOLIDWORKS 2023, https://www.solidworks.com/ and
SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2023, https://www.solidworks.com/zh-
hans/media/solidworks-2023-solidworks-visualize/), delay its failure process
and ensure that the PBL shear connectors can fully play their performance in
the shearing process. In the experiment, the influence of different steel fiber
contents on the performance of PBL shear connectors and the failure mode of
concrete cracks was discussed. Combined with the finite element software
ABAQUS 2021, a model of randomly distributed steel fibers was established to
verify the experimental results by comparative analysis. In the numerical
analysis, the fiber diameter and length as well as the design parameters of PBL
shear connectors (such as the diameter and length of the penetrating
reinforcement, the thickness of PBL plate, the diameter and number of
openings) are the connector variables. The research results aim to provide a
new reference basis for the shear performance of steel-concrete composite
beams.

Considering the limitations of experimental conditions, the range of steel fiber

content in this study is rather limited. Only specific types of steel fibers and
concrete mix proportions have been tested. In addition, only the influence of
static loads on the performance of concrete and PBL shear connectors has
been taken into account in this study, while the long-term impacts of dynamic
loads or environmental factors (such as temperature and humidity) on the
performance of steel fiber reinforced concrete have not been explored in dep