Finite-Element Analysis of Steel–Concrete Composite Plate Girder

Abstract

This paper deals with finite-element (FE) modeling and nonlinear analysis of steel–concrete composite plate girders under negative bending and shear loading. A three-dimensional FE model, using a general purpose finite-element software, has been used to carry out the nonlinear analysis. One steel plate girder and four composite plate girders tested to failure by other researchers have been analyzed by the FE model proposed in the study. Various models, which attempted to overcome the difficulties in modeling of steel–concrete composite plate girders, are presented and discussed in this paper. Results obtained from the FE analysis are compared with the corresponding experimental results. It is observed from the comparison that the proposed nonlinear FE model is capable of predicting the ultimate load behavior of steel–concrete composite plate girders to an acceptable accuracy.