Finite element simulation of composite steel-concrete castellated and cellular beams: effect of the web openings

Resumo

Composite castellated or cellular beams consist of a concrete slab linked with castellated or cellular
steel profiles through shear studs. Particularly, for simply supported beams, it results in an optimized structural
solution. However, designing a composite alveolar beam is not a simple task, since Brazilian and international
standards do not specify criteria for its analysis and design. Therefore, advances in numerical simulations are
important for a better understanding of their complex structural behavior, which involves different failure modes.
This work continues the research presented in the latest edition of CILAMCE, in which a finite element model
was developed and validated, using ANSYS software. This model was used in this paper to study the effects of
the web openings on the structural behavior of composite beams. For this purpose, firstly two composite cellular
beams experimentally tested in previous works were numerically simulated, considering the cases with and without
web openings. Secondly, it was proposed an example of a beam with a larger span (11 m) subjected to a uniformly
distributed load, and a numerical study was carried out considering both the original steel profile, without holes,
and the expanded profiles, with different opening patterns. It was concluded that the web-post buckling may limit
the structural gains on load capacity, so it is important to adopt opening patterns that enhance the resistance of the
beam to this mode of failure. On the other hand, when the failure mode is the formation of a flexural mechanism,
it was verified that the load capacity gain is influenced by the expansion ratio and the tee-section height.