Experimental and theoretical research of the punching shear performance of steel‐normal concrete‐UHPC composite slabs

Abstract The use of UHPC enables reducing the height of composite slabs, which may decrease the punching shear capacity. This paper investigates the punching shear behavior of steel‐normal concrete‐UHPC composite slabs with experiments and theoretical analyses. Results indicated that a 50 mm UHPC layer makes the nominal punching shear strength increase by 24.91%. Utilizing UHPC and increasing loading area can effectively enhance the punching shear capacity. Besides, theoretical punching shear model proposed based on rigid‐plastic theory can reliably predict the punching shear capacity of composite slabs. The punching shear angle derived from strength theory closely matches the experimental values.