Structural behavior of alternative low floor height system using structural "tee," half precast concrete, and horizontal stud

Conventional composite construction consisting of steel beams and concrete slabs has been widely used throughout the world. When compared with a concrete flat-slab structure, however, the reduced beam height is a significant problem and is particularly important in a city where land prices are higher because a height reduction of 15 cm per storey can lead to a 750 cm reduction in the total height for a 50 storey building (equivalent to two storeys). In this paper a newly developed composite beam, the technical, economical, and convenient (TEC) beam, is proposed and experimentally investigated using a series of monotonic loading tests. The results show that the capacity of the proposed system is in agreement with design code predictions, and the system demonstrates a reliable composite behavior between steel beam and concrete slab.