Effects of transverse tension load on the static capacity and fatigue resistance of composite dowels

Composite dowels are powerful shear connectors in steel-concrete composite structures, especially for prefabricated composite bridges. The advantages of composite dowels over other shear connectors are their increased strength and sufficient slip capacity even in high-strength concrete. The National Technical Approval for Germany [1], [2] from 2013 allows the design of composite structures with composite dowels for hogging and sagging moments under static and cyclic loading. However, the design of structures with cyclic loading in combination with centric tension perpendicular to the composite dowels (transverse tension) is neglected. Therefore, one part of national project P967 “External reinforcement for composite bridges”, funded by FOSTA, the Research Association for Steel Application, was to determine how transverse tension affects the static capacity and fatigue resistance of composite dowels. To investigate this effect, two test series, each with six push-out tests, were carried out. The test setup and the results of the static and cyclic shear tests in combination with transverse tension are presented in this paper.