Simplified numerical modelling of steel-concrete composite beams with trapezoidal steel decking

![CDATA[Steel-concrete composite beams with trapezoidal steel decking have been widely used in building construction for their superior structural performance and ease in construction. In structural design, it is favourable to accurately simulate the performance of composite beams. It has been rigorously proved that detailed finite element (FE) modelling using shell and solid elements can predict the behaviour of composite beams precisely, but this method is tedious and time consuming. Thus, it is impractical to carry out global non-linear analysis of structures using this method for routine design. Therefore, there is a need to develop simplified numerical models for composite beams with trapezoidal steel decking, which should be fast, efficient and accurate to be used for global structural analysis. In this paper, such a simplified model is developed and implemented in ABAQUS, where shell elements are used to simulate the concrete slab, rebar elements are used to represent steel sheeting, and connector elements are used to simulate the shear studs. The predicted results are compared with test results of composite beams presented in the literature, including simply supported and continuous beams with trapezoidal steel decking. Meanwhile, the predictions from the simplified model are also compared with predictions from detailed FE models using solid elements reported in the literature. The comparisons indicate that the accuracy of the simplified model is reasonable, and can be efficiently used in global structural analysis.]]