Project title: Issues in structural systems and details of composite tall buildings.

1.0 Introduction

Composite construction is characterised by interactive behaviour between structural steel

and concrete components designed to take advantage of the best load-resisting
characteristics and economy of each material. Of the 3 components of typical composite
construction viz. deck, column and beams, discussion first focuses on deck and identifies
challenges in design and construction of this element in the Indian context.

1.1 Composite deck

Steel deck is manufactured from steel sheets by a fully mechanised high-speed cold rolling
process. This deck is manufactured with embossments formed in the steel sheet specifically
designed to increase composite action between steel deck and concrete. Shear connection
between steel deck and concrete is provided through lugs, corrugations, ridges or
embossments formed in the profile of the sheet. A composite slab in a tall building is usually
designed as a simply supported reinforced concrete slab with steel deck acting as positive
reinforcement. In the context of structural design, guidelines need to be formulated for the
following issues, particularly in the context of application in Indian tall building construction:

(a) What should be the minimum number of spans over which the steel deck should extend?

(b) What should be the limiting deflection of the composite deck under the action of the
loads?

(c) What should be the manufacturing tolerances with respect to deck sheet length and
thickness?

(d) In the context of installation, the following issues need to be addressed: (i) what should
be the size and spacing of welds used to fasten steel decking to supports, (ii) what should be
the nature of connections at side laps, (iii) what should be the nature of connection
between decks over supports and what should be minimum bearing of deck ends on
supports, (iv) till what time after deck placement should shoring be retained.

(e) What should be fire ratings for composite deck construction?

(f) Steel deck is the positive bending reinforcement of the composite slab and it must be
designed to last the life of the structure. Towards this end, finish related specifications need
to be developed for steel decks.

(g) Diaphragm action of the composite deck plays a critical load in transfer of in-plain
vertical loads to vertical lateral load resisting elements of a building. Composite deck can
behave either as a rigid or as a semi-rigid or as a flexible diaphragm and guidelines need to
be developed for strength and stiffness calculations of such elements.

(h) A rational frame-work for estimation of composite deck capacity for resisting
concentrated loads needs to be developed.

(i) Role of steel deck in areas of negative moments needs to be investigated. If the deck
cannot be considered to play the role of compression reinforcement then a suitable amount
of tension reinforcement shall need to be designed to furnish the required negative
moment capacity. Design guidelines for such reinforcement need to be formulated. Such
type of reinforcement will also need to be designed for cantilever loads in which case the
steel deck can only be assumed to act as form-work for the composite slab.

1.2 Composite beams

Composite beams usually consist of either of the following options: (a) fully encased steel
beams, (b) concrete-filled tubular sections and (c) steel beams with mechanical anchorage
to slab. Fully encased steel beam construction is not popular because encasing of beams
requires expensive formwork and hence the most widely used composite beam typology is
the option (c) above consisting of steel beam + steel deck + concrete topping + shear
connectors. Composite action is achieved by providing shear connectors between top flange
of the steel beam and concrete topping and it results in overall reduction of floor depth.

The decision as to whether a composite beam needs to be designed for shored or unshored
construction needs careful consideration. If shored construction is proposed to be used then
the shoring cost has to be evaluated relative to the savings achieved by the use of lighter
beams. On the other hand, in the case of unshored construction, the steel beam has to be
designed to support the weight of fresh concrete as well as all construction loads. In the
context of designed and construction of composite beams, the following issues describe
attention:

(a) Deflection control of the composite beams needs to be ensured since at the time of
casting of deck concrete the steel beam has not yet acquired a composite configuration.
Hence it is liable to deflect excessively when fresh concrete is poured over the steel deck
supported by the beam. Relative merits of the following 3 options for deflection control
need to be explored: (i) use of relatively heavy steel beams to limit dead-load deflections.
This option may however compromise the cost competitiveness of composite construction,
(ii) cambering of the steel beam to compensate for the weight of steel beam and deck
concrete, (iii) camber and shore the steel beam with the beam being fabricated with a
camber calculated to compensate for deflection of the final curved composite section. In
addition to this camber, shores will also need to be placed to hold the steel beam at its
curved position when concrete is being poured on the steel deck.

(b) In a typical composite beam, shear studs may be detailed in a variety of configurations
each of which will have an effect on the amount of shear which can be transferred between
the beam and concrete slab. The effect of variation of this shear strength on flexural
strength of composite beams needs to be investigated towards deciding the most optimum
shear stud configuration in composite beams.

(c) Guidelines on width of slab which can be considered effective in composite action need
to be formulated.

(d) Criteria for service load deflection calculations of composite beams need to be
developed. One option would be to use elastic properties of the composite beam for
estimation of moment of inertia.

1.3 Composite column

A steel-concrete composite column is a compression member, comprising either a concrete

encased hot-rolled steel section or concrete filled tubular section of hot-rolled steel, and is
generally used as a load bearing member in a composite framed structure. Composite
column evolved from concrete encasement of structural steel shape primarily intended as
fire protection however with the advent of sprayed fireproofing it is no longer an
economical proposition due to high formwork cost. In composite column with concrete-
filled steel tubular section, there is no requirement of providing additional reinforcing steel
except for requirement of fire resistance. In composite column, both the steel and concrete
resist the external loading by interacting together by bond and friction. In this construction,
the bare steel sections support the initial construction loads, including the weight of
structure during construction. Concrete is later filled inside the tubular section. The
subsequent concrete addition increases the strength and stiffness of column, enabling the
building frame to limit the sway and later deflections. The use of composite column along
with composite decking is now a common design in high-rise structure. Composite column is
advantageous in respect of: (i) increased strength for a given cross-sectional dimension, (ii)
increased stiffness, leading to reduced slenderness and increased buckling resistance, (iii)
good fire resistance for concrete-encased column, (iv) corrosion protection for encased
column, (v) possible economic advantages over either pure steel or reinforced concrete
alternatives.
(a) To avoid overstressing either the structural section or the concrete at connections in
encased composite columns, a transfer of loads by direct bearing, shear connection or a
combination of both is required. Although it is recognised that force transfer also occurs by
direct bond interaction between the steel and concrete, this is typically ignored for encased
composite columns. These connectors must be designed to avoid the overstressing.
(b) Composite column is designed for a local bucking and maximum longitudinal load is
calculated to avoid the buckling of steel section for a given cross-section.
(c) Composite column must have enough fire rating to avoid the damage due to fire and
extra reinforcement in case of encased column is formulated.
(d) Frame columns that are connected to beams with moment-resisting connections restrain
the bending deflections of floor members as well as the lateral drift of the overall structure.
Their design must be chosen to satisfy both axial and flexural demands.