Advantages of composite beams are
- Increased strength for a given cross sectional dimension.
- The concrete and steel is utilized effectively.
- Good fire resistance in the case of concrete encased beams.
- Corrosion protection in encased beams.
- Significant economic advantages over either pure structural steel or reinforced concrete alternatives.
- Identical cross sections with different load and moment resistances can be produced by varying steel thickness, the concrete strength and reinforcement. This allows the outer dimensions of a beam to be held constant, thus simplifying the construction and architectural detailing.
- Concrete encased steel beams are also stronger in resisting impact loads.
- More economical steel section is used in composite construction than conventional non-composite construction for the same span and loading.
- Depth and weight of steel beam required is reduced. So, the construction depth also reduces increasing the headroom of the building.
- Composite beams have higher stiffness, thus it has less deflection that steel beams.
- Composite beams can cover for large space without the need of any intermediate columns.
- Composite construction is faster because of using rolled steel and pre-fabricated components than cast-in-situ concrete.
- Encased steel beam have higher resistance to fire and corrosion.
