no / The design of multi-storey buildings in the UK, in the past, considered steel and concrete structures in isolation. Today, designers utilize the combined properties of steel and concrete in the form of composite or hybrid structures as a more attractive efficient alternative. Designers of steel structures acknowledge that the presence of concrete slabs may be designed compositely with steel beams in order to increase both flexural strength and stiffness at virtually no extra cost, except for the headed shear studs. The use of composite construction with precast hollowcore slabs has become one of the most popular construction methods in the UK. Currently, design of composite construction is covered by BS5950, Part 3, but will soon be replaced by the new European Standard, Eurocode 4. However, design of composite construction with precast hollowcore slabs is currently outside the provisions of this new code. In this paper, an overview of the Eurocode 4 structure and its contents are first presented and some of the particular issues that affect this new form of construction will be given. Design guidance using the Eurocode methodology will also be presented.

Multi-storey buildings with precast hollowcore concrete floor systems are very common in New Zealand and in many other countries, but the structural behaviour of such systems under fire exposure is not easy to predict because of the complex geometry, composite construction, and a wide range of possible support conditions. The 2006 version of the New Zealand Concrete Standard NZS3101 introduces new details for connection of hollowcore floor units to reinforced concrete supporting beams to improve seismic performance, but the fire performance of the new connection systems is unknown. Currently available methods for simulating fire performance of hollowcore slabs are not suitable for design purposes. Therefore, a simple yet sufficiently accurate simulation method needs to be developed. This study was carried out using a proposed simulation method to investigate the fire performance of hollowcore floor slabs with different connection details between the hollowcore units and their reinforced concrete supporting beams conforming to NZS3101. The proposed simulation method is examined on the platform of SAFIR, a non-linear finite element program that includes both thermal and structural analysis. The proposed simulation method was validated using available experimental results from a limited number of tests. It does not take account of shear and anchorage failures or spalling effects, so designers should consult other studies for this behaviour of hollowcore concrete flooring systems. By using the proposed simulation scheme in SAFIR, it is investigated whether the tensile membrane action established through beams parallel to the hollowcore units and different floor aspect ratios will enhance the fire resistance of hollowcore concrete flooring systems. From the simulation results it is concluded that rigid connections at both the ends and the sides of the hollowcore flooring systems to the supporting beams provide better fire resistance than rotationally flexible connections, and the fire resistance of hollowcore flooring systems can be increased by using stiffer supporting beams at the end of the slabs and also by decreasing the spacing between the beams parallel to the hollowcore units.

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This paper evaluates the effective width of composite steel beams with precast hollowcore slabs numerically using the finite element method. A parametric study, carried out on 27 beams with different steel cross sections, hollowcore unit depths and spans, is presented. The effective width of the slab is predicted for both the elastic and plastic ranges. 8-node three-dimensional solid elements are used to model the composite beam components. The material non-linearity of all the components is taken into consideration. The non-linear load-slip characteristics of the headed shear stud connectors are included in the analysis. The moment-deflection behaviour of the composite beams, the ultimate moment capacity and the modes of failure are also presented. Finally, the ultimate moment capacity of the beams evaluated using the present FE analysis was compared with the results calculated using the rigid – plastic method.

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This article presents the design procedures for the use of precast hollowcore slabs in steel-concrete composite construction. The paper also summarises the recent and on-going work on the transfer of this knowledge into the Australian construction industry. Whilst it is common practice to use precast concrete planks in Australian building construction, the benefits of composite behaviour with steel beams have not yet been fully realised with these systems, (National Precast Concrete Association of Australia, 2003). The use of precast hollowcore slabs in steel composite construction has seen rapid growth in popularity since it was first developed in the 1990s. The main advantages of this form of construction are that precast hollowcore slabs can span up to 15 metres without propping. The erection of 1.2 metre wide precast concrete units is simple and quick, shear studs can be pre-welded on beams before delivery to site thereby offering the savings associated with shorter construction times.

No / In steel¿concrete composite beams, the longitudinal shear force is transferred across the steel flange/concrete slab interface by the mechanical action of the shear connectors. The ability of the shear connectors to transfer these longitudinal shear forces depends on their strength, and also on the resistance of the concrete slab against longitudinal cracking induced by the high concentration of shear force. Most of the research in composite construction has concentrated on the more traditional reinforced concrete and metal deck construction, and little information is given on shear capacity of the headed studs in precast hollowcore slabs. In this paper, a standard push test procedure for use with composite beams with precast hollowcore slabs is proposed. Seven exploratory push tests were carried out on headed studs in solid RC slabs to validate the testing procedures, and the results showed that the new test is compatible with the results specified in the codes of practice for solid RC slabs. Once a standard procedure is established, 72 full-scale push tests on headed studs in hollowcore slabs were performed to determine the capacities of the headed stud connectors in precast hollowcore slabs and the results of the experimental study are analysed and findings on the effect of all the parameters on connectors¿ strength and ductility are presented. Newly proposed design equations for calculating the shear connectors¿ capacity for this form of composite construction are also be given.

The concept of semi-rigid composite connection has been widely researched in the past; however, most of the researches are limited to composite joints with metal deck ¿ooring and solid concrete slabs. Composite construction incorporating precast concrete hollowcore slabs (HCU) is a recently developed composite ¿oor system for buildings. The research on the structural behaviour of the semi-rigid composite joints with HCU is new and without any previous experimental database. In this paper, eight full-scale tests of beam-to-column semi-rigid composite joints with steel beams and precast hollowcore slabs are reported. The variables are stud spacing, degree of the shear connections, area of the longitudinal reinforcement and slab thickness. The test set-up and instrumentation is described in detail. The experimental behaviour is analysed and based on the test data the structural behaviour of these semi-rigid composite joints is discussed. Based on the experimental data, a simpli¿ed method to predict rotation and moment capacity for this type of composite connection is proposed.