...
How
...
is
...
a
...
composite
...
steel
...
slab
...
modeled?
...
Extended
...
Question:
...
We
...
are
...
modeling
...
a
...
steel
...
slab
...
supported
...
by
...
inverted
...
T-beams
...
which
...
are
...
welded
...
to
...
the
...
bottom.
...
For
...
design
...
purposes,
...
beam
...
properties
...
should
...
consider
...
the
...
slab
...
as
...
a
...
top
...
flange.
...
If
...
we
...
assign
...
these
...
properties
...
to
...
the
...
beam,
...
how
...
is
...
the
...
slab
...
modeled?
...
Answer:
...
Once
...
the
...
beams
...
are
...
...
to
...
include
...
portions
...
of
...
the
...
slab
...
as
...
a
...
top
...
flange,
...
...
...
may
...
be
...
assigned
...
to
...
the
...
slab
...
...
objects
...
along
...
the
...
beam
...
direction
...
to
...
reduce
...
slab
...
stiffness
...
and
...
weight
...
such
...
that
...
top-flange
...
portions
...
are
...
not
...
double-counted.
...
A
...
sketch
...
and
...
overview
...
is
...
given
...
as
...
follows:
Figure 1 - Composite slab
See Also
- Composite section tutorial
Attachments
- Hand sketches (PDF)