Static behaviour of a full-scale steel–concrete beam with epoxy-bonding connection

Bonding connection in steel–concrete composite beams is investigated in the case of static loading and high-strength concrete. The 3-point bending test performed on a large beam confirms that bonding is very efficient: the elastic domain is followed by a non-linear behaviour with noticeable ductility. The measurements are generally close to the numerical results provided by beam models or the FE model. The composite beam model which does not take into account slip and shear deflection could be used for engineering design purposes. However all the studied beam models do not allow a very accurate prediction of the behaviour close to the interface and the behaviour at failure in the case of shear failure. Non-linear FE approach may be more suitable but requires realistic failure criterion for all the materials.