Structural Behavior of Concrete Slabs with Profiled Metal Decking: Experimental and Analytical Study

Abstract

Composite slab construction has become one of the most viable options for overcoming today’s challenges in the construction industry. The cohesion weakness between the main two components of such slabs—the concrete surface and profiled metal decking sheet—has been considered one of the problems limiting their wide applications. This research attempts to use the results of both experimental and numerical investigations in conjunction with the existing design methods to propose a design chart for profiled metal decking slabs. An experimental program was conducted on six full-scale specimens to investigate the effect of both the spacing of shear connectors and the ratio of the reinforcement mesh on the structural and bond behavior of the slabs. Following that, a three-dimensional (3D) finite-element (FE) model was developed to simulate the structural behavior of the slabs, and its reliability was evaluated in light of the experimental results. After that, the shear bond strength between the profiled metal decking sheet and the concrete was analytically evaluated using both the well-known m–k and partial shear connection (PSC) methods to verify the experimental results and clarify the limitations of using those methods. Ultimately, the verified FE model was adopted to find out the effect of the clear span–slab thickness ratio (L/ts) on the behavior of the slabs. The experimental as well as numerical findings showed that the ultimate capacity of the profiled metal decking slab is dependent on the spacing of the shear connectors, the ratio of reinforcement mesh, and the clear span–slab thickness ratio. The research attains a practical application to improve the behavior of composite concrete slabs because they give maximum protection for lives in the event of earthquakes due to supporting the concrete slab from sudden and momentary collapse. The idea still needs to be developed, but for now, one can say that the use of a metal sheet installed in the bottom of the concrete slab acts as an additional steel reinforcement, and this is capable of increasing imposed load on the concrete slab as well as supporting it externally from sudden fracture.