Effects of Creep and Shrinkage on Deflections of Continuous Composite Beams

Abstract

Creep and shrinkage of concrete affect the behavior of steel-concrete composite beams and should be taken into account in the analysis of these structures. A number of methods which have different level of accuracy are available for the time analysis of composite structures. Eurocode 4, the contemporary European code for design of steel- concrete composite structures, recommends simple methods for calculation of creep and shrinkage effects. In this paper, the deflections of continuous composite beams calculated with method proposed by Eurocode 4 and the more accurate Age Adjusted Effective Modulus Method (AAEM) are compared. Cracking of concrete is also considered. Through a set of numerical examples, accuracy of methods proposed by Eurocode 4 is discussed