Bending capacity of glass fibre steel composite plate (GSP) reinforced composite slab

Abstract

The possibility of applying bolted connections for glass fibre steel composite plate (GSP) attachment was verified through bearing tests of GSP and flexural tests of steel beam reinforced by bolted GSP. In this paper, bolted connections were applied to existing glass fibre reinforced plastic composite floor systems. To evaluate the flexural performance of GSP composite slab with bolted connections, a total of four specimens were tested. Test results showed that the bending capacity, stiffness and flexural rigidity EI improved by 8, 15 and 12% respectively on account of the enhancement effects of GSP. Relative displacements between concrete slab and steel beam were negligible, and complete composite interaction was achieved until the ultimate state. There was no bearing failure or block shear failure in the GSP by bolted connections. It is recommended that a new equation for yielding the bearing strength of GSP, and method for evaluating the longitudinal shear force between steel beam and GSP according to the expected strain of GSP, should be used to calculate the number of bolts for more economical design. However, more detailed study needs to be conducted on the shear lag generated between the lower flange and GSP to obtain full composite interaction of the bolted connections.