• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.1163-1192
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• 2016

This paper presents the cost optimization of a composite I beam floor system, designed to be made from a reinforced concrete slab and steel I sections. The optimization was performed by the mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) approach. For this purpose, a number of different optimization models were developed that enable different design possibilities such as welded or standard steel I sections, plastic or elastic cross-section resistances, and different positions of the neutral axes. An accurate economic objective function of the self-manufacturing costs was developed and subjected to design, resistance and deflection (in)equality constraints. Dimensioning constraints were defined in accordance with Eurocode 4. The Modified Outer-Approximation/Equality-Relaxation (OA/ER) algorithm was applied together with a two-phase MINLP strategy. A numerical example of the optimization of a composite I beam floor system, as presented at the end of this paper, demonstrates the applicability of the proposed approach. The optimal result includes the minimal produced costs of the structure, the optimal concrete and steel strengths, and dimensions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.821-835
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• 2016

The paper presents an experimental study of the structural behavior of circular flyash-concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns under axial compressive loads. In this study, 90% and 100% by weight of the cement in the concrete core was replaced with flyash. Twenty-seven specimens were tested to study the influence of flyash content, wall thickness of the steel tube, and curing age on the ultimate capacity and confinement effect. The experimental results were compared with the design values calculated using AISC-LRFD (1999), ACI (1999), AIJ (1997) and Eurocode 4 (1994). From the experimental study, it was determined that the confinement effect of circular steel tubes filled with high content flyash concrete was better than that of specimens filled with ordinary Portland cement concrete. The 5.88-mm-thick steel tube filled with 100% flyash concrete was equivalent in strength to a steel tube filled with C30 concrete at 28 days.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.545-556
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• 2017

The tubed steel reinforced concrete (SRC) column is a composite column in which the outer steel tube is mainly used to provide confinement on the core concrete. This paper presents experimental and analytical studies on the behavior of circular tubed SRC (TSRC) columns subjected to axial compression. Eight circular TSRC columns were tested to investigate the effects of length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) of the specimens, diameter-to-thickness ratio (D/t) of the steel tubes, and use of stud shear connectors on the steel sections. Elastic-plastic analysis on the steel tubes was used to investigate the mechanism of confinement on the core concrete. The test results indicated that the tube confinement increased the strength and deformation capacity for both short and slender columns, and the effects on strength were more pronounced for short columns. A nonlinear finite element (FE) model was developed using ABAQUS, in which the nonlinear material behavior and initial geometric imperfection were included. Good agreement was achieved between the predicted results using the FE model and the test results. The test and FE results were compared with the predicted strengths calculated by Eurocode 4 and the AISC Standard. Based on the analytical results, a new design method for this composite column was proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.783-794
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• 2020

Steel-concrete-steel sandwich composite wall is composed of two external steel plates and infilled concrete core. Internal mechanical connectors are used to enhance the composite action between the two materials. In this paper, the compressive behavior of a novel sandwich composite wall was studied. The steel trusses were applied to connect the steel plates to the concrete core. Three short specimens with different truss spacings were tested under compressive loading. The boundary columns were not included. It was found that the failure of walls started from the buckling of steel plates and followed by the crushing of concrete. Global instability was not observed. It was also observed that the truss spacing has great influence on ultimate strength, buckling stress, ductility, strength index, lateral deflection, and strain distribution. Three modern codes were introduced to calculate the capacity of walls. The comparisons between test results and code predictions show that AISC 360 provides significant underestimations while Eurocode 4 and CECS 159 offer overestimated predictions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

Composite beams with corrugated steel webs represent a new innovative system which has emerged in the past decade for medium span in the construction technology. The use of composite beams with corrugated steel webs results in a range of benefits, including flexible spaces and reduced foundation costs in the construction technology. The thin corrugated web affords a significant weight reduction of these beams, compared with hot-rolled or welded ones. In the current research, an optimal designed I-girder beam with corrugated web has been proposed to improve the structural performance of continuous composite girder under bending moment. The experimental program has been conducted for six simply supported composite beams with different loading conditions. The tested specimens are designed by using one of the stochastic techniques called hunting search algorithm. In the optimization process, besides the thickness of concrete slab and studs, corrugated web properties are considered as design variables. The design constraints are respectively implemented from Eurocode 3, BS-8110 and DIN 18-800 Teil-1. The last part of the study focuses on performing a numerical study on composite beams by utilizing finite element analysis and the bending behavior of steel girders with corrugated webs experimentally and numerically verified the results. A nonlinear analysis was carried out using the finite element software ANSYS on the composite beams which were modelled using the elements ten-node high order quadrilateral type.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.115-130
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• 2017

A new type of moment-resisting bolted connection was developed for use in composite steel- concrete construction to connect composite open section steel beams to concrete filled steel square tubular columns. The connection was made possible using anchored blind bolts along with two through bolts. It was designed to act compositely with the in-situ reinforced concrete slab to achieve an enhanced stiffness and strength. The developed connection was incorporated in the design of a medium rise (five storey) commercial building which was located in low to medium seismicity regions. The lateral load resisting system for the design building consisted of moment resisting frames in two directions. A major full scale test on a sub-assembly of a perimeter moment-resisting frame of the model building was conducted to study the system behaviour incorporating the proposed connection. The behaviour of the proposed connection and its interaction with the floor slab under cyclic loading representing the earthquake events with return periods of 500 years and 2500 years was investigated. The proposed connection was categorized as semi rigid for unbraced frames based on the classification method presented in Eurocode 3. Furthermore, the proposed connection, composite with the floor slab, successfully provided adequate lateral load resistance for the model building.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.587-602
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• 2020

In recent years, the composite columns have been widely used in the structures. These columns are mainly used to construct the structures with a large span and high floor height. Concrete filled tubes (CFTs) are a type of composite column, which are popular nowadays due to their numerous benefits. The purpose of this study is to investigate such frames at elevated temperatures. The method used in this research is based on section 2.2 of Eurocode 4. First, for the verification purpose, a comparison was made between the experimental results and the numerical model of the concrete filled tube. Then a composite frame was analyzed under fire temperature with different parameters. The results showed that the failure time decreased with increasing the friction of different models. Moreover, investigation of the concrete moisture content revealed that an increase in the concrete moisture content from 3% to 10% led to extended failure time for different models. For instance, in the second frame model, the failure time has increased up to 8%.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

This study presents applications of the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) method for predicting the ultimate loading carrying capacity (N_u) of rectangular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns subjected to eccentric loading. A database containing 141 experimental data was collected from available literature to develop the MARS model with a total of seven variables that covered various geometrical and material properties including the width of rectangular steel tube (B), the depth of rectangular steel tube (H), the wall thickness of steel tube (t), the length of column (L), cylinder compressive strength of concrete (f'_c), yield strength of steel (f_y), and the load eccentricity (e). The proposed model is a combination of the MARS algorithm and the grid search cross-validation technique (abbreviated here as GS-MARS) in order to determine MARS' parameters. A new explicit formulation was derived from MARS for the mentioned input variables. The GS-MARS estimation accuracy was compared with four available mathematical methods presented in the current design codes, including AISC, ACI-318, AS, and Eurocode 4. The results in terms of criteria indices indicated that the MARS model was much better than the available formulae.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2020

A method to reduce the wind pressure at the leading edge of a noise barrier was investigated by gradually lowering the height of a member added to the end of the noise barrier. The shape of the lowered height of the added member was defined by its length and slope, and the optimal variable was determined in wind tunnel testing via the boundary-layer wind profile. The goal of the optimal shape was to reduce the wind pressure at the leading edge of the noise barrier to the level suggested in the Eurocode and to maintain the base-bending moment of the added member at the same level as the noise-barrier section. Using parametric wind tunnel investigation, an added member with a slope of 1:2 that protruded 1.2 times the height of the noise barrier was proposed. This added member is expected to simplify, or at least minimize, the types of column members required to equidistantly support both added members and noise barriers, which should thereby improve the safety and construction convenience of noise-barrier structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.533-549
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• 2020

Recently, Concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns have proven an exceptional structural resistance in terms of strength, stiffness, and ductility. However, the resistance of these column members can be severely affected by the type of loading in which bending stresses increase in direct proportion with axial load and eccentricity value. This paper presents a non-linear finite element based modeling approach that studies the behavior of slender CFDST columns under biaxial loading. Finite element models were calibrated based on the outcomes of experimental work done by other researchers. Results from simulations of slender CFDST columns under axial loading eccentric in one direction showed good agreement with the experimental response. The calibrated models are expanded to a total of thirty models that studies the behavior of slender CFDST columns under combined compression and biaxial bending. The influences of parameters that are usually found in practice are taken into consideration in this paper, namely, eccentricity-to-diameter (e/D) ratios, slenderness ratios, diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios, and steel contribution ratios. Finally, an analytical study based on current code provisions is conducted. It is concluded that South African national standards (2011) provided the most accurate results contrasted with the Eurocode 4 (2004) and American Institute of Steel Construction (2016) that are found to be conservative. Accordingly, correction factors are proposed to the current design guidelines to provide more satisfactory results.