ABSTRACT
Asteel-concretecompositebeamisconstructedbyconnectingtheconcreteslabtothetop ¥angeofasteelbeambyshearconnectors.Inasimplysupportedcompositebeam,theconcreteslabissubjectedtocompression,whilepartorwholeofthesteelbeamisintension. Thebestpropertiesofbothsteelandconcretematerialsareutilisedincompositebeamconstruction.Shearconnectorsnotonlytransferthelongitudinalshearattheinterfaceofthe concreteslabandthesteelbeambutalsoresistthelongitudinalslipandverticalseparation ofthesetwocomponents.Thestrengthofcompositebeamsdependsonthedegreeofshear connectionbetweentheconcreteslabandthesteelbeam.Continuouscompositebeamshave theadvantagesofreducedsteelquantityandimproved¥exuralstiffnesscomparedtosimply supportedcompositebeams.However,additionalslabreinforcementneedstobeplaced inthenegativemomentregions.Theuseofpartialshearconnectionleadstoeconomical designsofsimplysupportedcompositebeamswhilecontinuouscompositebeamsareusually designed with complete shear connection.
