Fatigue Behavior of Large Stud Shear Connectors

Stud shear connectors are the most commonly used shear connectors: up to 22mm studs are usually used in steel-concrete composite structures. To expand the current design codes for stud connectors, large studs with a diameter of more than 25mm should be investigated. Through push-out tests on large stud shear connectors that transcend the limitation of current design codes, fatigue behavior was investigated and comparisons with design equations performed. The shear stiffness of the connectors in elastic range was evaluated through shear tests on 25mm, 27mm, and 30mm studs and compared with those from static tests. The fatigue behavior of large studs was discussed in terms of residual slip and load-slip curves. The initiation of fatigue cracks in the welding part could be detected through the history of displacement range. Test results showed that the design fatigue endurance of S-N curves in current design codes could be applied to large stud shear connector.