Elastic local buckling of steel plates in composite steel-concrete members

Abstract

A finite strip model for elastic local buckling is used to study the behaviour of steel plates in composite steel-concrete members. The accuracy of the numerical method is demonstrated by a comparison with solutions in the literature. Buckling of the steel skin is then considered, and width-to-thickness ratios suitable for design are suggested. The method is shown to be applicable to profiled composite slabs, profiled composite beams, profiled composite walls, composite steel-concrete columns and composite steel-concrete girders. A design example is given to show the applicability of the method.