Comparison of Design Codes for Composite Beams of Steel and Concrete in Europe and China

The comparison gives an overview of the codes for the design of composite structures for buildings. Thereby the history, developments and general structures are illustrated first. Eurocode 4 (EN1994) is a part of the Eurocodes, which are European harmonized design codes for buildings and bridges. In this paper, the equivalent Chinese codes are compared to the structure and contents of Eurocodes. EN1994-1-1, which is the first part of Eurocode 4 for general buildings, and JGJ138-2016 have similar design scopes, both cover topics of composite beams, columns, slabs, and connections. JGJ138-2016 also covers the design of composite shear walls and seismic design, while EN1994-1-1 considers more about durability and time effects. For the more technical comparison, the general design bases such as safety concept and design action effects are alike. The material property values by the two codes are mostly similar except for concrete. For structural members, the focus here is mainly on the comparison of composite beams in steel and concrete. The comparisons are explained with the help of parameter studies and theoretical comparisons.