In this tutorial, the simulation of stud‑connected steel–UHPC composite girders subjected to four‑point bending in Abaqus is presented. The performance of steel–concrete composite (SCC) girders under static and dynamic loads depends strongly on the force‑transfer mechanism at the interface between the steel beam and the concrete slab. Stud connectors play a key role in resisting shear forces at this interface. They increase shear resistance and improve the load‑carrying capacity of the composite girder through dowel action.
The ultra‑high‑performance concrete (UHPC) slab is modeled as a three‑dimensional solid part. The steel beam and studs are also modeled as 3D solid parts. Rigid bodies are created using shell elements to represent the loading and support components.
UHPC material behavior is defined using the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) model, which allows separate definitions for compression and tension behavior. Material data for UHPC are taken from the reference paper. The steel beam and studs use an elastic–plastic material model combined with a ductile damage criterion to capture damage initiation and failure.
Both static and dynamic solvers can be used for this type of analysis. However, static analysis requires long computation time, so the dynamic explicit solver is preferred. A smooth‑step amplitude is applied to the load to achieve quasi‑static behavior in the explicit step.
Perfect contact is assumed between the studs and the UHPC slab. Surface‑to‑surface contact with defined contact properties is used for all other interfaces. Fixed boundary conditions are applied to the two bottom rigid bodies, while displacement loading with a smooth‑step amplitude is applied to the two top rigid bodies. All parts are partitioned to ensure a good‑quality mesh.
After the simulation, results such as stress, strain, damage, and force–displacement curves can be extracted. Example result figures are shown below.
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