COLD FORMED COMPOSITE BEAM USING LIGHT WEIGHT CONCRETE

Abstract

Composite beam is constructed to increase stiffness or strength or to reduce cost. Beams are built of more than one material are called composite beam. An experimental study was made to determine the flexural behaviour of composite beam consists of cold-formed steel with lightweight concrete using expanded polystyrene beads in place of coarse aggregate by 30%. The ultimate objective of this study is to reduce the overall weight of the composite structure and a comparative study was analysed between composite beam with the conventional beam. Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the type of steel fabricated by the cold forming process. Cold-formed steel structural members have been used for housing for many years. Since 1960, numerous projects have concentrated on the research and development of cold-formed steel products for housing. During recent years, the use of cold-formed steel framing in residential construction has been on a rapidly increasing scale. During the construction of CFS residential buildings, however, one of the disadvantageous features is that the several requirements arising during design can only be satisfied by several different materials (heat insulation, insulation against moist, finishing of the surface).This drawback can be avoided if a single material with optimized material properties is used.