Computational Modelling of Deconstructable Composite Steel-Concrete Beams

This paper addresses the computational modelling of composite steel-concrete beams that are assembled for “deconstructability”, insofar as they can be disassembled at the end of the life of a building and hence they lessen the carbon footprint of the structure in a whole life-cycle assessment. Establishing design paradigms for such elements is difficult without recourse to numerical procedures, and so the paper focuses on a computational technique for composite beams constructed by bolting the concrete slab to the steel joist with high-strength bolts that act as shear connectors. An elastic-plastic geometrically non-linear computational formulation is established, that can handle the relative interface slip with an empirical representation in algebraic form. The finite element (FE) technique is validated with tests, that demonstrate its efficacy and scope.