48-92 The Civil Engineering Handbook, Second Edition
The placement and spacing of the shear connectors should comply with the following guidelines:
1. The shear connectors shall be uniformly spaced between the points of maximum moment and
zero moment. However, the number of shear connectors placed between a concentrated load point
and the nearest zero moment point must be sufficient to resist the factored moment M
u
.
2. Except for connectors installed in the ribs of formed steel decks, shear connectors shall have at
least 1 in. (25.4 mm) of lateral concrete cover. The slab thickness above a formed steel deck shall
not be less than 2 in. (51 mm).
3. Unless located over the web, the diameter of shear studs must not exceed 2.5 times the thickness
of the beam flange. For a formed steel deck, the diameter of stud shear connectors shall not exceed
3/4 in. (19 mm) and shall extend not less than 1½ in. (38 mm) above the top of the steel deck.
4. The longitudinal spacing of the studs should fall in the range of six times the stud diameter to
eight times the slab thickness if a solid slab is used, or four times the stud diameter to eight times
the slab thickness or 36 in. (915 mm), whichever is smaller, if a formed steel deck is used. Also,
to resist uplift, the steel deck shall be anchored to all supporting members at a spacing not to
exceed 18 in. (460 mm).
The design flexural strength f
b
M
n
of the composite beam with shear connectors is determined as follows.
In regions of positive moments, for h
c
/t
w
£ 3.76/÷(E/F
yf
), f
b
= 0.85, M
n
is the moment capacity deter-
mined using a plastic stress distribution assuming concrete crushes at a stress of 0.85f
c
¢, and steel yields
at a stress of F
y
. If a portion of the concrete slab is in tension, the strength contribution of that portion of
concrete is ignored. The determination of M
n
using this method is very similar to the technique used for
computing moment capacity of a reinforced concrete beam according to the ultimate strength method.
In regions of positive moments, for h
c
/t
w
> 3.76/÷(E/F
yf
), f
b
= 0.90 and M
n
is the moment capacity
determined using the superposition of elastic stress, considering the effect of shoring. The determination
of M
n
using this method is quite similar to the technique used for computing the moment capacity of a
reinforced concrete beam according to the working stress method.
In regions of negative moment, f
b
M
n
is to be determined for the steel section alone in accordance with
the requirements discussed in Section 48.5. To facilitate design, numerical values of f
b
M
n
for composite
beams with shear studs in solid slabs are given in tabulated form in the AISC-LRFD manual. Values of f
b
M
n
for composite beams with formed steel decks are given in a publication by the Steel Deck Institute [2001].
48.14 Plastic Design
Plastic analysis and design is permitted only for steels with a yield stress not exceeding 65 ksi. The reason
for this is that steels with a high yield stress lack the ductility required for inelastic deformation at hinge
locations. Without adequate inelastic deformation, moment redistribution, which is an important char-
acteristic for plastic design, cannot take place.
In plastic design, the predominant limit state is the formation of plastic hinges. Failure occurs when
enough plastic hinges have formed for a collapse mechanism to develop. To ensure that plastic hinges
can form and can undergo large inelastic rotation, the following conditions must be satisfied:
1. Sections must be compact, that is, the width–thickness ratios of flanges in compression and webs
must not exceed l
p
in Table 48.8.
2. For columns, the slenderness parameter l
c
(see Section 48.4) shall not exceed 1.5K, where K is
the effective length factor, and P
u
from gravity and horizontal loads shall not exceed 0.75A
g
F
y
.
3. For beams, the lateral unbraced length L
b
shall not exceed L
pd
, where for doubly and singly
symmetric I-shaped members loaded in the plane of the web,
(48.146)
L
MM
F
r
pd
p
y
y
=
+
()
3600 2200
1