Abstract:A new kind of shear connector compositing the ordinary stud and the rubber sleeve was proposed to decrease the shear stiffness of the shear connector without changing its shear strength. Eighteen push out tests were conducted to investigate the effects of the height and thickness of the rubber sleeve on the behavior of the composite shear connector. The test results show that the stiffness of the composite shear connector is significantly lower than the ordinary stud, while the shear strength change is negligible. Under repeated loading, the composite shear connector shows better deflection recovery in comparison with the ordinary stud. Moreover, it is indicated that the rubber sleeve’s height should be less than 3/4 of the height of the stud, while the stiffness of the shear connector can be reduced significantly when the rubber sleeve’s thickness is more than 1/8 of the diameter of the stud.