The use of composite flexural systems consisting of concrete slabs and hot-rolled steel sections is well-established as witnessed by extensive rules and requirements for their design prescribed in current codes. There is, however, little scientific and technical information available for the use of composite systems that incorporate light gauge steel sections despite the marked potential for this system in residential and light industrial construction markets.; Focusing on the development of a simple, economical and effective shear connection to facilitate implementation in practice, an experimental program was developed and conducted to study the behaviour of one-way slab systems consisting of light gauge cold-formed steel channels, 203.2 mm in depth, acting compositely with concrete slab. Twelve large-scale slab specimens were tested under four-point line loading. Thirty-four companion push-out specimens were also tested to study interfacial shear transfer mechanisms and to correlate the results with those obtained from large-scale tests. Shear transfer at the interface of the steel and concrete was realized by embedding the top flanges of steel sections into the concrete. The effectiveness of three possible enhancements of shear transfer by using drilled circular holes, pre-fabricated bent-up tabs, and self-tapping screws on the embedded flanges were investigated in both large-scale and push-out tests. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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