FE validation of the equivalent diameter calculation model for grouped headed studs

Existing design codes for steel-concrete composite structures give only general information about the shear connection provided by headed studs in group arrangement. Grouting of the openings in prefabricated concrete slabs, where the grouped headed studs are placed in the deck pockets is alternative to cast-in-place decks to accomplish fast execution of composite structures. This paper considers the possibility to reduce the distance between the studs within the group, bellow the Eurocode limitations. This may lead to increased competitiveness of the prefabricated construction because more studs are placed in the group if negative effectives of smaller distances between studs are limited. The main purpose of this work is to investigate these limits and propose an analytical calculation model for prediction of the shear resistance of grouped stud arrangements in the deck pockets. An advanced FEA model, validated by results of push-out experiments, is used to analyze the shear behavior of the grouped stud with smaller distance between them than recommended by EN 1994-1. Calculation model for shear resistance, which is consistent with the existing Eurocode rules, is proposed based on a newly introduced equivalent diameter of the stud group, dG. The new calculation model is validated by comparison to the results of FE parametric study. The distance between the studs in the longitudinal direction and the number of stud rows and columns in the group are considered as the main variables.