Abstract: A structural member composed of two or more dissimilar materials joined together to act as a unit is known to be a composite member. Cold- formed steel members are extensively used in the building construction industry, especially in residential, commercial and industrial buildings. In recent times, the use of cold- formed high strength steel members has rapidly increased. In this the flexural behavior of cold formed steel with M30 grade of concrete is investigated by conducting analytical and experimental study. Totally six simply supported composite beam specimen are tested under two point loading to determine the flexural strength. There are six composite beams and it is provided with different configuration of shear connectors. The cross section of beam were kept such that span to depth ratio varied from 8 to 12. The cold formed steel of Channel section with lip facing at compression side is used. To avoid slip and to transfer horizontal shear between cold formed steel and concrete, the shear connectors are provided. The Channel shear connectors and T – shear connectors were used. The beam specimens were tested by subjecting them to two point loading. The load- deflection behavior, ultimate flexural load and failure pattern of beam had studied. The experimental results indicate that, the load carrying capacity of the composite beams with Channel connector is more than the composite beams with T shear connector. The experimental results have also indicated that, the span to depth ratio have an influence on the increase in the load carrying capacity of the composite beams. The mid-span deflection at ultimate load for the composite beams was reduced in case of Channel shear connector. It was observed that, the steel-concrete composite beams failed due to flexural and shear-compression failure.

Keywords: Cold Formed Steel, Shear Connector, Composite Beam, Flexural behavior.