PROFILED METAL SHEET FOR COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION:

Introduction

Trapezoidal Metal Profile sheets with strong and reliable
shear bond performance which is augmented by cross
embossing located in the profile. The composite floor
profile offers the ultimate in the light weight steel decking
which reduced concrete usage to provide a cost effective
and alternative floor solution that easy to install.

The floor is constituted by a profiled sheet onto which a
layer of concrete is poured. The sheet is bonded to the
concrete by means of mouldings on the sheet which stop
the concrete from slipping horizontally and detaching
vertically. When the concrete is poured and until it has
reached and appropriate level of hardening (stage 1), the
weights of the concrete, personnel working and equipment
used in borne by the sheet alone. Once the concrete has
hardened (stage 2) the sheet and the concrete form a
unified bond with all the characteristics of traditional
reinforced concrete, where the sheet, after having
performed the function of framework, acts as a metal
reinforcement. Appropriate crop ends must be provided to
absorb the negative moments.

Applications
High Rise Buildings
Multiplexes / Commercial Buildings
Power Plant Buildings
Office Buildings
Mezzanine Floors in Industrial Buildings &
Warehouses
Steel deck for mezzanine floors
Thickness
0.8mm / 1mm / 1.2mm
Technical Specification
Base Metal
High tensile structural grade
steel
Coating Mass 120, 180 & 275 GSM
Coating Standard IS: 277
Yield Strength 240 MPA
Premier Coating Minimum 10 Microns
Colour Coating Premier 10 Microns
Bottom 25 Micron
Available Finish
Cold Rolled (CR)
Galvanised
Both side primer coated (Galvanised)
Pre coated galvanized under side giving durable and
attractive appearance and minimum future
maintenance.
Advantages
Reduced Concrete usage: Tensile steel for composite
slab construction that cuts down on slab thickness
and dead weight of buildings. Providing a more
sustainable solution and reducing costs.
No separate formwork required for slab casting.
Reduces construction time.
Technical department at Alfa offers comprahassive
advisory of service on design of composite flooring
should quiries arise when are not cover by this
literature please contact us.
COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION:
There are two basic methods of composite construction.

Method 1. The steel beam is entirely encased in the
concrete. Composite action in this case depends on the
steel-concrete bond alone. Because the beam is completely
braced laterally, the allowable stress in the flanges is 0.66F
y
, where F
y
is the yield strength, ksi (MPa), of the steel.
Assuming the steel to carry the full dead load and the
composite section to carry the live load, the maximum unit
stress, ksi (MPa), in the steel is
F
s
= ( M
D
/ S
S
) + ( M
L
/ S
t r
) ? 0.66F
y

where M
D
= dead-load moment, in-kip (kN-mm)
M
L
= live-load moment, in-kip (kN-mm)
S
s
= section modulus of steel beam, in
3
(mm
3
)
S
t r
= section modulus of transformed composite section, in
3
(mm
3
)
An alternative, shortcut method is permitted by the AISC
specification. It assumes that the steel beam carries both
live and dead loads and compensates for this by permitting
a higher stress in the steel:
f
s
= M
D
+ M
L
/ S
s
? 0.76 F
y


Method 2. The steel beam is connected to the concrete slab
by shear connectors. Design is based on ultimate load and is
independent of the use of temporary shores to support the
steel until the concrete hardens. The maximum stress in the
bottom flange is
F
s
= M
D
+ M
L
/ S
t r
0.66 F
y

To obtain the transformed composite section, treat the
concrete above the neutral axis as an equivalent steel area
by dividing the concrete area by n, the ratio of modulus of
elasticity of steel to that of the concrete. In determination of
the transformed section, only a portion of the concrete slab
over the beam may be considered effective in resisting
compressive flexural stresses (positive-moment regions).
The width of slab on either side of the beam centerline that
may be considered effective should not exceed any of the
following:
1. One-eighth of the beam span between centers of sup-
ports
2. Half the distance to the centerline of the adjacent beam
3. The distance from beam centerline to edge of slab
What are the reasons of establishing
minimum area of reinforcement and
maximum area of reinforcement?

Beams may be designed to be larger than required for
strength consideration owing to aesthetics or other reasons.
As such, the corresponding steel ratio is very low and the
moment capacity of pure concrete section based on the
modulus of rupture is higher than its ultimate moment of
resistance. As a result, reinforcement yields first and
extremely wide cracks will be formed. A minimum area of
reinforcement is specified to avoid the formation of wide
cracks.
On the other hand, a maximum area of reinforcement is
specified to enable the placing and compaction of fresh
concrete to take place easily.
What are the reasons for establishing
minimum distance between bars and
maximum distance between bars?
In some codes, a minimum distance between bars is
specified to allow for sufficient space to accommodate
internal vibrators during compaction.
On the other hand, the restriction of maximum bar spacing
is mainly for controlling crack width. For a given area of
tension steel areas, the distribution of steel reinforcement
affects the pattern of crack formation. It is preferable to
have smaller bars at closer spacing rather than larger bars
at larger spacing to be effective in controlling cracks. Hence,
the limitation of bar spacing beyond a certain value (i.e.
maximum distance between bars) aims at better control of
crack widths.
What is the purpose of skin reinforcement
for deep beams?
In BS8110, it states that secondary reinforcement should be
provided for beams exceeding 750mm deep at a distance
measured 2/3 depth from the tension face. Experimental
works revealed that at or close to mid-depth of deep beams,
the maximum width of cracks arising from flexure may be
about two to three times larger than the width of the same
crack at the level of surface where the crack originally
forms.
The presence of crack is undesirable from aesthetic point of
view. Moreover, it poses potential corrosion problems to
reinforcement of deep beams. To safeguard against these
crack formation, skin reinforcement is designed on the sides
of deep beams to limit the formation of flexural crack
widths. Though the principal function of skin reinforcement
is to control crack width, it may be employed for providing
bending resistance of the section.
Can a concrete structure be completely
free of expansion joints and contraction
joints?

Consider that the concrete structure is not subject to the
problem of differential settlement.
For contraction joints, it may be possible to design a
concrete structure without any contraction joints. By using
sufficient steel reinforcement to spread evenly the crack
width over the span length of the structure, it may achieve
the requirement of minimum crack width and cause no
adverse impact to the aesthetics of the structure. However,
it follows that the amount of reinforcement required is
higher than that when with sufficient contraction joints.
For expansion joints, the consequence of not providing such
joints may be difficult to cater for. For example, a concrete
structure has the coefficient of thermal expansion of 910
-
6
/
o

C and a Youngs modulus of 34.5kN/mm^2 With an increase
of temperature of 20
o
C and it is restricted to free
expansion, then the structure is subject to an axial stress of
6.21MPa. If the structure is very slender (e.g. concrete
carriageway), buckling may occur.
Therefore, the structure has to be designed to take up these
thermal stresses if expansion joints are not provided.
However, for water retaining structures, most of them are
not affected by weather conditions because they are
insulated from the water they contain internally and soil
backfill that surround them. Therefore, it is expected that a
smaller amount of thermal movement will occur when
compared with normal exposed concrete structure.
Consequently, expansion joints may be omitted in this case
with the view that the compressive stress induced by
thermal expansion toughens the structure to limit the
development of tensile stress.
. Is the requirement of crack width limitation
(<0.5mm) be effective in control ling
reinforcement corrosion?
In many standards and code of practice of many countries, the
allowable size of crack width is normally limited to less than
0.5mm for reinforced concrete structure to enhance the durability
of concrete. The limitation of crack width can serve the aesthetic
reason on one hand and to achieve durability requirement by
avoiding possible corrosion of steel reinforcement on the other
hand. Regarding the latter objective, site surveys and
experimental evidence do not seem to be in favor of the
proposition. Beeby showed that there was no correlation between
surface crack width (<0.5mm) and durability of reinforced
concrete structure. In practice, most corrosion problems are
triggered by the presence of surface cracks parallel to the
reinforcement instead of surface cracks perpendicular to the
reinforcement.

What are the potential problems of excessive
concrete covers?
In reinforced concrete structures cover is normally provided to
protect steel reinforcement from corrosion and to provide fire
resistance. However, the use of cover more than required is
undesirable in the following ways:
(i) The size of crack is controlled by the distance of longitudinal
bars to the point of section under consideration. The closer a bar
is to this point, the smaller is the crack width. Therefore, closely
spaced bars with smaller cover will give narrower cracks than
widely spaced bars with larger cover. Consequently, with an
increase in concrete cover the crack width will increase.
(ii) The weight of the concrete structure is increased by an
increase in concrete cover. This effect is a critical factor in the
design of floating ships and platforms where self-weight is an
important design criterion.
(iii) For the same depth of concrete section, the increase of
concrete cover results in the reduction of the lever arm of internal
resisting force.
If a contractor proposes to increase concrete
cover beyond contractual specification (i.e.
40mm to 70mm), shall engineers accept the
proposal?
In contractual aspect, based on the requirement of General
Specification of Civil Engineering Works (1992 Edition), the
tolerance of concrete cover is between +5mm and 5mm and
engineers should not accept sub-standard work because they do
not possess the authority to change the acceptance criteria. In
case engineers consider contractors proposal acceptable in
technical point of view, consent has to be sought from the
employer regarding the changes in acceptance criteria.
From technical point of view, the effect on cracking due to an
increase in concrete cover should be considered. In general, there
are three main parameters which govern crack width, namely
tensile strain at the point considered, the distance of longitudinal
bar to the concerned point and the depth of tension zone.
For the second factor, i.e. proximity of longitudinal bars to point
of section, the closer a bar is to this point, the smaller is the
crack width. Therefore, closely spaced bars with smaller cover will
give narrower cracks than widely spaced bars with larger cover.
Therefore, with an increase of concrete cover, the crack width will
increase which is undesirable.
In grillage analysis of skew bridge, should a
skew mesh be adopted or the transverse
members are set orthogonal to the main
members?
For skew deck, the transverse members are set orthogonal
to the main members to find out the correct moment and
deflections. Skew decks develop twisting moments which is
more severe for higher skew angles.
The most economical way of designing reinforcing steel is to
place the reinforcement along the direction of principal
moment.
For skew angle less than 35
o
, it may not be practical to
adopt this approach in the skew region. Instead, the
transverse members are kept parallel to the support line so
that a skewed mesh is adopted. The use of skew mesh
suffers from the demerit that it would slightly overestimate
the output of moment and deflections.

What are the limitations of grillage
analysis?
In designing the number of cells for concrete box girder
bridges, in case the depth of a box girder bridge exceeds 1/6
or 1/5 of the bridge width, then it is recommended to be
designed as a single cell box girder bridge. However, if the
bridge depth is smaller than 1/6 of the bridge width, then a
twin-cell or multiple cell is a better. However, one should
note that even for wider bridges with small depths, the
number of cells should be minimized because there is not
much improvement in transverse load distribution when the
number of cells of box girder is increased to three or more.
For structural analysis of bridges, grillage analysis, which
involves the structure to be modeled as a series of
longitudinal and transverse elements which are
interconnected at nodes, is normally adopted.
Grillage analysis suffers from the following shortcomings
based on E. C. Hambly:
(i) For coarse mesh, torques may not be identical in
orthogonal directions. Similarly, twists may differ in
orthogonal directions.
(ii) Moment in any beams is mainly proportional to its
curvature only. However, moment in an element depends on
the curvatures in the beams direction and its orthogonal
direction.
Grillage analysis cannot be used to determine the effect of
distortion and warping. Moreover, the effect of shear lag can
hardly be assessed by using grillage analysis. By using fine
mesh of elements, local effects can be determined with a
grillage. Alternatively, the local effects can be assessed
separately and put in the results of grillage analysis.
Plate Girder In Buildings
For greatest resistance to bending, as much of a plate girder
cross section as practicable should be concentrated in the
flanges, at the greatest distance from the neutral axis. This
might require, however, a web so thin that the girder would
fail by web buckling before it reached its bending capacity.
To preclude this, the AISC specification limits h/t.
For an unstiffened web, this ratio should not exceed.

where F
y
= yield strength of compression flange,ksi (MPa).
Larger values of h/t may be used, however, if the web is
stiffened at appropriate intervals.

For this purpose, vertical angles may be fastened to the web
or vertical plates welded to it. These transverse stiffeners
are not required, though, when h/t is less than the value
computed from the preceding equation or following
table


With transverse stiffeners spaced not more than 1.5 times
the girder depth apart, the web clear-depth/thickness ratio
may be as large as
h/t=2000/(F
y
)

If, however, the web depth/thickness ratio h/t exceeds
760/(F
b
)

, where F
b
, ksi (MPa), is the allowable bending
stress in the compression flange that would ordinarily apply,
this stress should be reduced to F

b
, given by the following
equations:

Where A
w
= web area , in
2
(mm
2
)
A
f
= area of compression flange,in
2
(mm
2
)
F
yw
=minimum specified yield stress, ksi, (MPa), of web steel

In a hybrid girder, where the flange steel has a higher yield
strength than the web, the preceding equation protects
against excessive yielding of the lower strength web in the
vicinity of the higher strength flanges. For nonhybrid girders,
R
e
= 1.0.
Column Base Plates
The area A
1
, in
2
(mm
2
), required for a base plate under a
column supported by concrete should be taken as the larger
of the values calculated from the equation cited earlier, with
R taken as the total column load, kip (kN), or
A
1
=R /0.70f

c

Unless the projections of the plate beyond the column are
small, the plate may be designed as a cantilever assumed to
be fixed at the edges of a rectangle with sides equal to
0.80b and 0.95d, where b is the column flange width, in
(mm), and d is the column depth, in (mm).
To minimize material requirements, the plate projections
should be nearly equal. For this purpose, the plate length N,
in (mm) (in the direction of d), may be taken as
N=(A
1
)

+0.5(0.95d0.8b)

The width B, in (mm), of the plate then may be calculated
by dividing A
1
by N. Both B and N may be selected in full
inches (millimeters) so that BN >= A
1
. In that case, the
bearing pressure f
p
, ksi (MPa), may be determined from the
preceding equation. Thickness of plate, determined by
cantilever bending, is given by
t=2p (f
p
/F
y
)

where F
y
=minimum specified yield strength, ksi (MPa), of
plate; and p = larger of 0.5 (N- 0.95d) and 0.5( B-0.8b).
When the plate projections are small, the area A
2
should be
taken as the maximum area of the portion of the supporting
surface that is geometrically similar to and concentric with
the loaded area. Thus, for an H-shaped column, the column
load may be assumed distributed to the concrete over an H-
shaped area with flange thickness L, in (mm), and web
thickness 2L:

where F
p
= allowable bearing pressure, ksi (MPa), on
support. (If L is an imaginary number, the loaded portion of
the supporting surface may be assumed rectangular as
discussed earlier.) Thickness of the base plate should be
taken as the larger
of the values calculated from the preceding equation and

DESIGN OF STIFFENERS UNDER
LOADS
AISC requires that fasteners or welds for end connections of
beams, girders, and trusses be designed for the combined
effect of forces resulting from moment and shear induced by
the rigidity of the connection. When flanges or moment
connection plates for end connections of beams and girders
are welded to the flange of an I- or H-shape column, a pair
of column-web stiffeners having a combined cross-sectional
area A
s t
not less than that calculated from the following
equations must be provided whenever the calculated value
of A
s t
is positive:
A
s t
= ( P
b f
F
y c
t
w c
( t
b
+ 5k ) ) / F
y s t

where F
y c
= column yield stress, ksi (MPa)
F
y s t
= stiffener yield stress, ksi (MPa)
K = distance, in (mm), between outer face of column flange
and web toe of its fillet, if column is rolled shape, or
equivalent distance if column is welded shape
P
b f
= computed force, kip (kN), delivered by flange of
moment-connection plate multi plied by 5/3 , when
computed force is due to live and dead load only, or by 4/3,
when computed force is due to live and dead load in
conjunction with wind or earthquake forces
T
w c
= thickness of column web, in (mm)
T
b
= thickness of flange or moment-connection plate
delivering concentrated force, in (mm)
Notwithstanding the preceding requirements, a stiffener or a
pair of stiffeners must be provided opposite the beam
compression flange when the column-web depth clear of
fillets d
c
is greater than
d
c
= ( 4100 t
3
w c
( F
y e
)

) / P
b f

and a pair of stiffeners should be provided opposite the
tension flange when the thickness of the column flange t
f
is
less than
t
f
= 0.4 ( P
b f
)

/ F
y c

Stiffeners required by the preceding equations should
comply with the following additional criteria:
1. The width of each stiffener plus half the thickness of the
column web should not be less than one-third the width of
the flange or moment-connection plate delivering the
concentrated force.
2. The thickness of stiffeners should not be less than t
b
/2.
3. The weld-joining stiffeners to the column web must be
sized to carry the force in the stiffener caused by
unbalanced moments on opposite sides of the column.
Stresses In Thin Shells
Results of membrane and bending theories are expressed in
terms of unit forces and unit moments, acting per unit of
length over the thickness of the shell. To compute the unit
stresses from these forces and moments, usual practice is to
assume normal forces and shears to be uniformly distributed
over the shell thickness and bending stresses to be linearly
distributed. Then, normal stresses can be computed from
equations of the form:

where
z=distance from middle surface
t=shell thickness
M
x
= unit bending moment about an axis parallel to direction
of unit normal force N
x

Similarly, shearing stresses produced by central shears T
and twisting moments D may be calculated from equations
of the form:

Normal shearing stresses may be computed on the
assumption of a parabolic stress distribution over the shell
thickness:
where V=unit shear force normal to middle surface.
Beams

The extreme fiber stress in bending for a rectangular timber
beam is
f=6M / bh
2

=M/S

A beam of circular cross section is assumed to have the
same strength in bending as a square beam having the
same cross-sectional area.
The horizontal shearing stress in a rectangular timber beam
is
H=3V /2bh
For a rectangular timber beam with a notch in the lower face
at the end, the horizontal shearing stress is
H=(3V /2bd
1
) (h / d
1
)
A gradual change in cross section, instead of a square notch,
decreases the shearing stress nearly to that computed for
the actual depth above the notch.
In the above equation:
f= maximum fiber stress, lb/in
2
(MPa)
M= bending moment, lb in (Nm)
h= depth of beam, in (mm)
b= width of beam, in (mm)
S= section modulus ( bh2/6 for rectangular section), in3
(mm3)
H= horizontal shearing stress, lb/in
2
(MPa)
V= total shear, lb (N)
d
1
= depth of beam above notch, in (mm)
l= span of beam, in (mm)
P= concentrated load, lb (N)
V
1
= modified total end shear, lb (N)
W= total uniformly distributed load, lb (N)
x= distance from reaction to concentrated load in (mm) For
simple beams, the span should be taken as the distance
from face to face of supports plus one-half the required
length of bearing at each end; and for continuous beams,
the span should be taken as the distance between the
centers of bearing on supports.
When determining V, neglect all loads within a distance from
either support equal to the depth of the beam.
In the stress grade of solid-sawn beams, allowances for
checks, end splits, and shakes have been made in the
assigned unit stresses.
For concentrated loads,
V
1
=[10P(l-x)(x/h)
2
]/9l[2+(x/h)
2
]
For uniform loading,
V
1
=W[(1-2h/l)]/2
The sum of the V
1
values from these equations should be
substituted for V in the very first equation, and the resulting
H values should be checked against those given in tables of
allowable unit stresses for end-grain bearing. Such values
should be adjusted for duration of loading.
Columns

The allowable unit stress on timber columns consisting of a
single piece of lumber or a group of pieces glued together to
form a single member is

P/A=3.619E/(l/r)
2

For columns of square or rectangular cross section, this
formula becomes
P/A=0.30E/(l/d)
2

For columns of circular cross section, the formula becomes
P/A=0.22E(l/d)
2

The allowable unit stress, P/A, may not exceed the allowable
compressive stress, c. The ratio, 1/d, must not exceed 50.
Values of P/A are subject to the duration of loading
adjustment given previously.
P= total allowable load, lb (N)
A= area of column cross section, in
2
(mm
2
)
c= allowable unit stress in compression parallel to grain,
lb/in
2
(MPa)
d= dimension of least side of column, in (mm)
l= unsupported length of column between points of lateral
support, in (mm)
E= modulus of elasticity, lb/in
2
(MPa)
r= least radius of gyration of column, in (mm)
For members loaded as columns, the allowable unit stresses
for bearing on end grain (parallel to grain) are given in data
published by lumber associations. These allowable stresses
apply provided there is adequate lateral support and end
cuts are accurately squared and parallel. When stresses
exceed 75 percent of values given, bearing must be on a
snug-fitting metal plate. These stresses apply under
conditions continuously dry, and must be reduced by 27
percent for glued-laminated lumber and lumber 4 in (102
mm) or less in thickness and by 9 percent for sawn lumber
more than 4 in
(102 mm) in thickness, for lumber exposed to weather.

COLLECTED AND PREPARED BY Er.T.RANGARAJAN.