• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.123-139
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• 2020

The tube outward local buckling of Concrete-Filled Steel Tube (CFST) beam under high compression stress is still considered a critical problem, especially for steel tubes with a slender section compared to semi-compact and compact sections. In this study, the flexural performance of stiffened slender cold-formed square tube beams filled with normal concrete was investigated. Fourteen (14) simply supported CFST specimens were tested under static bending loads, stiffened with different shapes and numbers of steel stiffeners that were provided at the inner sides of the tubes. Additional finite element (FE) CFST models were developed to further investigate the influence of using internal stiffeners with varied thickness. The results of tests and FE analyses indicated that the onset of local buckling, that occurs at the top half of the stiffened CFST beam's cross-section at mid-span was substantially restricted to a smaller region. Generally, it was also observed that, due to increased steel area provided by the stiffeners, the bending capacity, flexural stiffness and energy absorption index of the stiffened beams were significantly improved. The average bending capacity and the initial flexural stiffness of the stiffened specimens for the various shapes, single stiffener situations have increased of about 25% and 39%, respectively. These improvements went up to 45% and 60%, for the double stiffeners situations. Moreover, the bending capacity and the flexural stiffness values obtained from the experimental tests and FE analyses validated well with the values computed from equations of the existing standards.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.541-562
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• 2006

This paper compares the performance of axially loaded concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns cast using a conventionally vibrated normal concrete (NC) and a novel self-consolidating concrete (SCC) made with a new viscosity modifying admixture (VMA). A total of sixteen columns with a standard compressive strength of about 50 MPa for both SCC and NC were tested by applying concentric axial load through the concrete core. Columns were fabricated without and with longitudinal and hoop reinforcement (Series I and Series II, respectively) in addition to the tube confinement. The slenderness of the columns expressed as height to diameter ratio (H/D) ranged between 4.8 and 9.5 for Series CI and between 3.1 and 6.5 for Series CII. The strength and ductility of SCC columns were found comparable to those of their NC counterparts as the maximum strength enhancement in NC columns ranged between 1.1% and 7.5% only. No significant difference in strain development was found due to the presence of SCC or NC or due to the presence of longitudinal and hoop reinforcement. Biaxial stress development in the steel tube as per von Mises yield criterion showed similar characteristics for both SCC and NC columns. The confined strength ($f^{\prime}_{cc}$) of SCC was found to be lower than that of NC and $f^{\prime}_{cc}$ also decreased with the increase of slenderness of the columns. Analytical models for the prediction of confined concrete strength and axial strength of CFST columns were developed and their performance was validated through test results. The proposed models were found to predict the axial strength of CFST columns better than existing models and Code based design procedures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.171-183
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• 2019

As China's infrastructure continues to grow, concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) structures are attracting increasing interest for use in engineering applications in earthquake prone regions owing to their high section modulus, high strength, and good seismic performance. However, in a corrosive environment, the seismic resistance of the CFST columns may be affected to a certain extent. This study attempts to investigate the mechanical behaviours of square CFST members under both a cyclic load and an acid rain attack. First, the tensile mechanical properties of steel plates with various corrosion rates were tested. Second, a total of 12 columns with different corrosion rates were subjected to a reversed cyclic load and tested. Third, comparisons between the test results and the predicted ultimate strength by using four existing codes were carried out. It was found that the corrosion leads to an evident decrease in yield strength, elastic modulus, and tensile strain capacity of steel plates, and also to a noticeable deterioration in the ultimate strength, ductility, and energy dissipation of the CFST members. A larger axial force ratio leads to a more significant resulting deterioration of the seismic behaviour of the columns. In addition, the losses of both thickness and yield strength of an outer steel tube caused by corrosion should be taken into account when predicting the ultimate strength of corroded CFST columns.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1577-1588
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• 2018

As the excellent mechanical performance and easy construction of concrete filled steel tubes (CFST) composite structure, it has the potential to be used to strengthen RC pier columns. Therefore, tests were conducted on 2 reinforcement concrete (RC) stub columns and 9 RC columns strengthened with circular CFST under axial loading. The test results show that the circular CFST strengthening method is effective since the mean bearing capacity of the RC columns is increased at least 3.69 times and the ductility index is significantly improved more than 30%. One of the reasons for enhancement is obvious confinement provided by steel tube besides the additional bearing capacity supplied by the strengthening materials. From the analysis of the enhancement ratio, the strengthening structure has at least an extra 20% amplification except for taking full advantage of the strength of the strengthening material. Through the analysis of confining stress provided by steel tube and the stress-strain relationship of confined concrete, it is found that the strength of the core concrete can be increased by 21-33% and the ultimate strain can be enhanced to beyond $15,000{\mu}{\varepsilon}$.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.423-436
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• 2022

This paper proposes an innovative thin-walled square concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) column with an octagonal/circular lining steel tube, in which the outer steel tube and the inner liner are fabricated independently of each other and connected by slot-weld or self-tapping screw connections. Twelve thin-walled square CFST columns were tested under quasi-static loading, considering the parameters of liner type, connection type between the square tube and liner, yield strength of steel tube, and the axial load ratio. The seismic performance of the thin-walled square CFST columns is effectively improved by the octagonal and circular liners, and all the liner-stiffened specimens showed an excellent ductile behavior with the ultimate draft ratios being much larger than 1/50 and the ductility coefficients being generally higher than 4.0. The energy dissipation abilities of the specimens with circular liners and self-tapping screw connections were superior to those with octagonal liner and slot-weld connections. Based on the test results, both the finite element (FE) and simplified theoretical models were established, considering the post-buckling strength of the thin-walled square steel tube and the confinement effect of the liners, and the proposed models well predicted the hysteretic behavior of the liner-stiffened specimens.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.141-166
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• 2015

In the present study, a Finite Element Model has been developed and used to study the effect of diameter to wall thickness ratio (D/t) of steel tube filled with concrete under axial loading on its behavior and load carrying capacity. The model is verified by comparing its findings with available experimental results. Influence of thickness and area of steel tube on strength, ductility, confinement and failure mode shapes has been studied. Strength enhancement factors, load factor, confinement contribution, percentage of steel and ductility index are defined and introduced for the assessment. A parametric study by varying length and thickness of tube has been carried out. Diameter of tube kept constant and equals to 140 mm while thickness has been varied between 1 mm and 6 mm. Equations were developed to find out the ultimate load and confined concrete strength of concrete. Variation of lateral confining pressure along the length of concrete cylinder was obtained and found that it varies along the length. The increase in length of tubes has a minimal effect on strength of tube but it affects the failure mode shapes. The findings indicate that optimum use of materials can be achieved by deciding the thickness of steel tube. A better ductility index can be obtained with the use of higher thickness of tube.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.185-199
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• 2019

Modular construction is an emerging technology to accommodate the increasing restrictions in terms of construction period, energy efficiency and environmental impacts, since each structural module is prefabricated offsite beforehand and assembled onsite using industrialized techniques. However, some innate structural drawbacks of this innovative method are also distinct, such as connection tying inaccessibility, column instability and system robustness. This study aims to explore the theoretical and numerical stability analysis of a tenon-connected square hollow section (SHS) steel column to address the tying and stability issue in modular construction. Due to the excellent performance of composite structures in fire resistance and buckling prevention, concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns are also taken into account in the analysis to evaluate the feasibility of adopting composite sections in modular buildings. Characteristic equations with three variables, i.e., the length ratio, the bending stiffness ratio and the rotational stiffness ratio, are generated from the fourth-order governing differential equations. The rotational stiffness ratio is recognized as the most significant factor, with interval analysis conducted for its mechanical significance and domain. Numerical analysis using ABAQUS is conducted for validation of characteristic equations. Recommendations and instructions in predicting the buckling performance of both SHS and CFST columns are then proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.431-445
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• 2021

This paper presents experiments and theoretical analysis on shear behavior of eight concrete-encased square concrete-filled steel tube (CECFST) specimens and three traditional reinforced concrete (RC) specimens. A total of 11 specimens with the test parameters including the shear span-to-depth ratio, steel tube size and studs arrangement were tested to explore the shear performance of CECFST specimens. The failure mode, shear capacity and displacement ductility were thoroughly evaluated. The test results indicated that all the test specimens failed in shear, and the CECFST specimens enhanced by the interior CFST core exhibited higher shear capacity and better ductility performance than that of the RC specimens. When the other parameters were the same, the larger steel tube size, the smaller shear span-to-depth ratio and the existence of studs could lead to the more satisfactory shear behavior. Then, based on the compatible truss-arch model, a set of formulas were developed to analytically predict the shear strength of the CECFST members by considering the compatibility of deformation between the truss part, arch part and the steel tube. Compared with the calculated results based on several current design specifications, the proposed formulas could get more accurate prediction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.173-189
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• 2022

This study presents an experimental and numerically study about the effects of fiber reinforcement ratio on the behavior of concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) under dynamic impact loading. In literature have examined the behavior of GFRP and FRP wrapped strengthened CFST elements impact loads. However, since the direction of potential impact force isn't too exact, there is always the probability of not being matched the impact force of the area where the reinforced. Therefore, instead of the fiber textile wrapping method which strengthens only a particular area of CFST element, we used fiber-added concrete-filled elements which allow strengthening the whole element. Thus, the effect of fiber-addition in concrete on the behavior of CFST elements under impact loads was examined. To do so, six simply supported CFST beams were constructed with none fiber, 2% fiber and 10% fiber reinforcement ratio on the concrete part of the CFST beam. CFST beams were examined under two different impact loads (75 kg and 225 kg). The impactors hit the beam from a 2000 mm free fall during the experimental study. Numerical models of the specimens were created using ABAQUS finite element software and validated with experimental data. The obtained results such as; mid-span displacement, acceleration, failure modes and energies from experimental and numerical studies were compared and discussed. Furthermore, the Von Misses stress distribution of the CFST beams with different ratio of fiber reinforcements were investigated numerically. To sum up, there is an optimum amount limit of the fiber reinforcement on CFST beams. Up to this limit, the fiber reinforcement increases the structural performances of the beam, beyond that limit the fiber reinforcement decreases the performances of the CFST beam under transverse impact loadings.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 2015

CFST columns are structurally superior because the concrete inside the steel tubes prevents local buckling at the tubes and the tubes confine the concrete. And, the thickness of steel tube in CFST column has been thinner with development of high-strengh steel. The thinner the steel tube of a square CFST column is, the more local buckling is likely to occur. For this reason, we developed welded built-up square steel tube with stiffeners which are placed at the center of the tube width acts as an anchor. In this study, we conduct experimental test for three specimens of the 4m long span welded built-up square CFT column with parameters of L/D and D/t. And, the test results were compared with the analysis results by M-${\phi}$-P Program.