For long-span composite bridges with corrugated steel webs, the encased concrete near the intermediate support section increases the weight of the girder, reduces pre-stressing efficiency, and causes difficulties in the construction process. The authors in the companion paper [1] proposed a corrugated steel web with vertical or/and horizontal stiffeners to replace or shorten the length of concrete encasement. In parallel with experimental study described in the companion paper, this paper further investigates the shear performance of proposed stiffened corrugated steel webs by numerical and analytical methods. Firstly, finite element (FE) models considering material nonlinearity, welding residual stress, and geometric imperfection were established and validated against the experimental results. Then the effects of web thickness, corrugation depth, height and thickness of stiffeners on shear strength and failure modes were analyzed based on the validated FE models. Finally, both experimental and numerical shear strength were used to evaluate the applicability of existing calculation methods proposed by different scholars to predict the shear capacity of stiffened corrugated steel web. The comparisons reveal that calculation methods proposed by Hassanein & Kharoob [2] and Leblouba et al. [3] predict the shear capacity of pure corrugated steel web more accurately, and all existing calculation methods underestimate corrugated steel web with vertical stiffeners. Therefore, the analytical model for accurately predicting shear strength of stiffened corrugated steel web need to be developed, which will be investigated in subsequent studies.@en

Composite girder with corrugated steel web is one of the promising concrete-steel hybrid structures with superior properties and cost effectiveness widely applied in highway and railway bridges. The connection between concrete slabs and corrugated steel web is an important part of such composite structure. In order to improve pouring quality and durability of concrete for joint structure between corrugated steel webs and concrete lower slab, the validity of placing lower slab on the inner side of corrugated steel webs was confirmed and a new joint structure with perforated plate connectors was proposed. Push-out tests on proposed joint structure with different parameters including the welding width and the plate thickness were carried out to study their shear strength, shear stiffness, failure modes and relative slip characteristics. Subsequently, three-dimensional finite element models taking material non-linearity and nonlinear contact between steel and concrete interface into consideration were built and validated by the push-out tests. Afterwards, parametric studies were performed to further investigate the influences of geometrical parameters (such as width, height and thickness of perforated steel plate) and material parameters including steel yielding strength and concrete compressive strength on ultimate shear strength and failure mode of the joint structure. Analytical results indicate that the shear loading capacity is increased with the thickness, the width and height of perforated plate, and the compressive strength of concrete. However, steel yielding strength, presence or absence of perforating rebar, have a negligible effect on ultimate shear strength of the joint structure. Finally, prediction equations of shear capacity were provided and compared with experimental and numerical results. The calculated shear capacity agrees well with experimental and numerical ones, indicating provided analytical equations can accurately predict shear capacity for such novel joint structure.@en

The prestressed concrete girder with corrugated steel webs is one of the most promising steel-concrete hybrid structures applied to highway and railway bridges, owing to its excellent mechanical properties and efficient material utilisation. Composite bridges with corrugated steel webs (CBCSWs) have undergone rapid development in China since 2005, resulting in remarkable technical progress in many aspects. A state-of-the-art review of CBCSWs in China is presented. Based on data collected for over 90 CBCSWs built in China during the years 2005-2018, characteristics relating to bridge span, structural type and construction methods are comprehensively analysed. Some mechanical issues regarding the design and construction of typical CBCSWs are elaborated to understand fully their structural performance and promote their development. Furthermore, a few representative CBCSWs are expounded in relation to their innovative structural design and construction techniques; their respective characteristics are highlighted. Finally, several conclusions are drawn and future research directions are predicted: the CBCSW is a competitive bridge solution when 80-200 m main spans are required; advanced materials, innovative structure types and advanced construction methods making good use of corrugated steel web are the source of its development. The experiences in this study can serve as a useful base for constructing more excellent and impressive CBCSWs.@en

Steel-concrete composite structures have been extensively used in building, bridges, and other civil engineering infrastructure. Shear stud connectors between steel and concrete are essential in composite members to guarantee the effectiveness of their behavior in terms of strength and deformability. This study focuses on investigating the shear stiffness of headed studs embedded in several types of concrete with wide range of compressive strength, and their effects on the elastic behavior of steel-concrete composite girders were evaluated. Firstly, totally 206 monotonic push-out tests from the literature were reviewed to investigate the shear stiffness of headed studs embedded in various types of concrete (NC, HPC, UHPC etc.). Shear stiffness of studs is defined as the secant stiffness of the load-slip curve at 0.5Vu, and a formulation for predicting defined shear stiffness in elastic state was proposed, indicating that the stud diameter and the elastic modulus of steel and concrete are the main factors. And the shear stiffness predicted by the new formula agree well with test results for studs with a diameter ranging from 10 to 30 mm in the concrete with compressive strength ranging from 22.0 to 200.0MPa. Then, the effects of shear stiffness on the elastic behaviors of composite girders with different sizes and under different loading conditions were analyzed, the equations for calculating the stress and deformation of simply supported composite girders considering the influence of connection's shear stiffness were derived under different loading conditions using classical linear partial-interaction theory. As the increasing of shear stiffness, the stress and deflection at the most unfavorable section under partial connected condition tend to be those under full connected condition, but the approaching speed decreases gradually. Finally, the connector's shear stiffness was recommended for fully connection in composite girders with different dimensions under different loading conditions. The findings from present study may provide a reference for the prediction of shear stiffness for headed studs and the elastic design of steel-concrete composite girder.@en

Perfobond shear connectors (PBLs) are increasingly applied in steel-concrete composite structures. The out-of-plane (lateral) shear behavior of PBLs is still unknown to researchers and designers, although the connectors undertake considerable out-of-plane shear forces in some applications. Thus, push-out tests with three specimens were first conducted to investigate the lateral shear performance of PBLs and further used to validate the corresponding numerical models. The test results show that perforated rebars and concrete dowels are irrelevant to the lateral shear capacity, while they can reduce the separations and improve the ductility. Secondly, parametric FEA (finite element analysis) models for the push-out tests were built and validated based on the test results. The plastic strains in concrete mainly develop at the regions close to the fillet welds. Further, 144 extended FEA models with varying height, length, and thickness of perfobond plates and concrete compressive strength were conducted to reveal the lateral shear mechanism of PBLs. By enlarging the plate height, the lateral shear capacity slightly increases, while the shear stiffness remains as constant. The shear capacity and stiffness increase with the plate length and thickness, as well as the concrete compressive strength. Finally, based on the existing shear capacity equations for channel and angle connectors, and the theory of elastic foundation beams, the expressions for the lateral shear capacity and stiffness of PBLs were put forward. The proposed equations agree with the results of the parametric study.@en

This paper proposes an innovative use of corrugated steel plates as the webs of the crossbeam in the tower of a suspension bridge to get better seismic performance. Three 1/4-scaled models of composite beam with corrugated steel webs considering different shear-span ratio were fabricated to conduct quasi-static test. The structural behaviors including failure modes, hysteretic curves, ductility, strength and stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity, deformation recovery ability, shear force distribution and strain responses were investigated. Test results indicate that the specimen with large shear-span ratio presents ductile flexural failure, and the hysteretic curve is stable and plump with slight pinching, which indicates good energy dissipation performance. However, the specimen with small shear-span ratio fails due to brittle shear buckling of corrugated steel web, showing remarkable pinching phenomenon and poor hysteretic behavior. With the increase of shear-span ratio, the load-carrying capacity and lateral initial stiffness are reduced, but the ductility and energy dissipation ability are improved significantly. The energy dissipation capacity of such composite beam is better than that of the RC structures, the strength degradation is slight for the specimen with a proper shear-span ratio, and the deformation recovery ability is good for all test specimens. The corrugated steel web carries about 80% of the shear force and shear stress uniformly distributed along the web height. The test results demonstrate that the composite beam with corrugated steel web of a reasonable shear-span ratio can be applied in anti-seismic structure with superior energy dissipation performance. In addition, simplified formulas were proposed to evaluate the flexural strength and shear buckling strength of a composite beam with corrugated steel webs, the calculated results agree well with the test results, verifying the accuracy of these proposed formulas.@en

We present an innovative prefabricated composite box girder with corrugated webs and concrete-filled steel tube slab to prevent cracking in the web and reduce the self-weight, which is suitable for long-span structures. We carried out systematic experimental and analytical studies to investigate the structural performance, including the loading capacity and dynamic properties of a prefabricated composite box girder bridge before and after erection. Firstly, we tested a prefabricated composite girder with a single box section before erection under monotonic loading, measuring vertical deformation, flexural strain on the slabs, and shear strain on the corrugated steel webs, and evaluating the load-carrying capacity and stiffness reduction. Secondly, we conducted field live-load tests, including a calibration test and a dynamic test, on a composite bridge with twin prefabricated box girders. We hired four-axle heavy trucks for a calibration test to explore the static responses in terms of displacement, bending strain on the slabs, and shear strain on the corrugated steel webs. In the dynamic tests, we carried out a modal test using ambient vibration method and a moving load test in order to determine the dynamic behavior, which involves natural frequencies, the mode shapes, and the dynamic load factor (DLF). Based on the test results, the structural performance was evaluated by the AASHTO bridge rating process. All the findings from the load-carrying capacity test at ultimate state, calibration and dynamic load tests at service state in this study may provide a reference for the design and construction of such type of bridges.@en