Proposal of concept for structural modelling of hybrid beams

Investigation on the behaviour of a hybrid beam is presented. Hybrid beam stands for an element with hybrid cross sections. This means sections that consist of steel and concrete parts, connected together with composite dowels, and both are considered for shear flow analysis. In practice, a more general solution may be used for bridges in the form of a beam in which the span sections are hybrid and the support sections are concrete. Recently such a solution has been introduced for bridge engineering in Poland and a new problem with performing a global analysis of hybrid beams was identified. The solution is new itself and requires also a new approach for internal forces determination. Discussion of this problem is made in the paper. Influences of (1) concrete cracking, (2) rheology of concrete and (3) methods of modelling on the redistribution of internal forces are highlighted. On an example of one of the real bridge girder (being currently under design) analysis is made to show how the abovementioned factors are affecting obtained results. Results are analysed and conclusions are presented. As a final step, a new concept of hybrid beam design is proposed. The proposed solution enables a quick and easy engineering approach to perform a static calculation of the considered structure.