Headed studs close to the concrete edge under pull-out

The capacity of the headed studs when they are close to the edge may be limited by the splitting forces in the concrete. In the Eurocode 4 Part 2 Annex C the shear capacity under this particular arrangement of the studs, which is directly dependent on the distance to the edge, is formulated. In addition, the geometrical restrictions to prevent the failure by pull-out of the studs are also given in clause C1 (2). These rules are based on push-out tests for the edge position where tension forces in the lying studs spread over the width of the specimen in this unfavorable way. Nonetheless, the current limits lead to extremely long studs and represent a severe restriction, and on the other hand, it is still an open question whether in real buildings or bridge girders the tension stresses that produce the pull-out appears in the same way as in the push out tests. In this paper the revision of these restrictions is presented together with a research for the alternative use of EN 1992-4 plus RFCS Project INFASO for the verification of the tension loads on the studs.