Behavior and Strength of Headed Stud-SFRCC Shear Connection. II: Strength Evaluation

This paper is the second part of a two-part report describing the behavior of headed stud-SFRCC (steel-fiber-reinforced cementitious composite) shear connection. The first paper presented an experimental study of headed stud-SFRCC shear connections, whereas this paper focuses on the strength evaluation of those shear connections. This paper first presents a finite-element model of the connections, which was validated using the experimental results. An updated empirical equation considering the contribution made by the weld collar is proposed to estimate the shear strength of a single headed stud. Finite-element models were developed to evaluate the shear strength of each stud in a densely arranged group of headed studs. The results reveal that the interaction between headed studs mitigated the confining effect on studs, and the studs thus sustained less shear strength than those with larger stud spacing. Studs placed in different positions sustain different shear forces, and this difference is greater when smaller stud spacing is used. Formulas with which to estimate the reduction in the strength of headed studs in SFRCC are suggested according to a parametric study of the finite-element analysis. (C) 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.