• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.305-317
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• 2021

The mechanical behavior of the outer square inner circular concrete-filled dual steel tubular (SCCFT) stub columns under axial compression is investigated by means of experimental research, numerical analysis and theoretical investigation. Parameters such as diameter ratio, concrete strength and steel ratio were discussed to identify their influence on the mechanical properties of SCCFT short columns on the basis of the experimental investigation of seven SCCFT short columns. By establishing a finite element model, nonlinear analysis was performed to discuss the longitudinal and transverse stress of the dual steel tubes. The longitudinal stress characteristics of the core and sandwich concrete were also analyzed. Furthermore, the failure sequence was illustrated and the reasonable cross-section composition of SCCFT stub column was proposed. A formula to predict the axial load capacity of SCCFT stub column was advanced and verified by the results from experiment and the finite element.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.307-324
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• 2011

With the increasing use of concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) as structural members, there is a growing need to provide suitable measures for possible strengthening or repair of these kinds of structural elements. Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) jacketing is a recent method and is particularly attractive in which it does not significantly increase the section size, and is relatively easy to install. Thus, it can be used to enhance strength and/or ductility of CFST members. Very little information is available on the performance of FRP-strengthened CFST members under fire conditions. This paper is an attempt to study the fire performance of CFST columns strengthened by FRP. The results of fire endurance tests on FRP-strengthened circular CFST columns are presented. Failure modes of the specimens after exposure to fire, temperatures in the cross section, axial deformation and fire resistance of the composite columns are analysed. It is demonstrated that the required fire endurance can be achieved if the strengthened composite columns are appropriately designed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.145-163
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• 2024

This paper presents six novel hybrid machine learning (ML) models that combine support vector machines (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GB), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and categorical gradient boosting (CGB) with the Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm. These models, namely HHO-SVM, HHO-DT, HHO-RF, HHO-GB, HHO-XGB, and HHO-CGB, are designed to predict the ultimate strength of both rectangular and circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns. The prediction models are established using a comprehensive database consisting of 325 experimental data for rectangular columns and 172 experimental data for circular columns. The ML model hyperparameters are optimized through a combination of cross-validation technique and the HHO. The performance of the hybrid ML models is evaluated and compared using various metrics, ultimately identifying the HHO-CGB model as the top-performing model for predicting the ultimate shear strength of both rectangular and circular RC columns. The mean R-value and mean a20-index are relatively high, reaching 0.991 and 0.959, respectively, while the mean absolute error and root mean square error are low (10.302 kN and 27.954 kN, respectively). Another comparison is conducted with four existing formulas to further validate the efficiency of the proposed HHO-CGB model. The Shapely Additive Explanations method is applied to analyze the contribution of each variable to the output within the HHO-CGB model, providing insights into the local and global influence of variables. The analysis reveals that the depth of the column, length of the column, and axial loading exert the most significant influence on the ultimate shear strength of RC columns. A user-friendly graphical interface tool is then developed based on the HHO-CGB to facilitate practical and cost-effective usage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.127-145
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• 2016

Composite column design is strongly influenced by the computation of the critical buckling load, which is very sensitive to the effective flexural stiffness (EI) of the column. Because of this, the behaviour of a composite column under lateral loading and its response to deflection is largely determined by the EI of the member. Thus, prediction models used for composite member design should accurately mirror this behaviour. However, EI varies due to several design parameters, and the implementation of high-strength materials, which are not considered by the current composite design codes of practice. The reliability of the design methods from six codes of practice (i.e., AS 5100, AS/NZS 2327, Eurocode 4, AISC 2010, ACI 318, and AIJ) for composite columns is studied in this paper. Also, the reliability of these codes of practice against a serviceability limit state criterion are estimated based on the combined use of the test-based statistical procedure proposed by Johnson and Huang (1997) and Monte Carlo simulations. The composite columns database includes 100 tests of circular concrete-filled tubes, rectangular concrete-filled tubes, and concrete-encased steel composite columns. A summary of the reliability analysis procedure and the evaluated reliability indices are provided. The reasons for the reliability analysis results are discussed to provide useful insight and supporting information for a possible revision of available codes of practice.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.125-138
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• 2018

The research on the confinement behavior of ultra high performance concrete without and with the use of steel fibers (UHPC and UHPFRC) has been extremely limited. In previous studies, authors experimentally investigated the axially compressive behavior of circular steel tube confined concrete (STCC) short and intermediate columns with the employment of UHPC and UHPFRC. Under loading on only the concrete core, the confinement effect induced by the steel tube was shown to significantly enhance the utimate stress and its corresponding strain of the concrete core. Therefore, this paper develops a simplified stress - strain model for circular STCC columns using UHPC and UHPFRC with compressive strength ranging between 150 MPa and 200 MPa. Based on the regression analysis of previous test results, formulae for predicting peak confined stress and its corresponding strain are proposed. These proposed formulae are subsequently compared against some previous empirical formulae available in the literature to assess their accuracy. Finally, the simplified stress - strain model is verified by comparison with the test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.305-326
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• 2022

To realize the recycling utilization of waste concrete and alleviate the shortage of resources, 11 specimens of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled circular steel tube columns were designed and manufactured in this study, and the cyclic loading tests on the specimens of columns were also carried out respectively. The hysteretic curves, skeleton curves and performance indicators of columns were obtained and analysed in detail. Besides, the finite element model of columns was established through OpenSees software, which considered the adverse effect of recycled coarse aggregate (RA) replacement rates and the constraint effect of circular steel tube on internal RAC. The numerical calculation curves of columns are in good agreement with the experimental curves, which shows that the numerical model is relatively reasonable. On this basis, a series of nonlinear parameters analysis on the hysteretic behaviors of columns were also investigated. The results are as follows: When the replacement rates of RA increases from 0 to 100%, the peak loads of columns decreases by 7.78% and the ductility decreases slightly. With the increase of axial compression ratio, the bearing capacity of columns increases first and then decreases, but the ductility of columns decreases rapidly. Increasing the wall thickness of circular steel tube is very profitable to improve the bearing capacity and ductility of columns. When the section steel ratio increases from 5.54% to 9.99%, although the bearing capacity of columns is improved, it has no obvious contribution to improve the ductility of columns. With the decrease of shear span ratio, the bearing capacity of columns increases obviously, but the ductility decreases, and the failure mode of columns develops into brittle shear failure. Therefore, in the engineering design of columns, the situation of small shear span ratio (i.e., short columns) should be avoided as far as possible. Based on this, the calculation model on the skeleton curves of columns was established by the theoretical analysis and fitting method, so as to determine the main characteristic points in the model. The effectiveness of skeleton curve model is verified by comparing with the test skeleton curves.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.277-293
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• 2012

The interaction between steel tube and concrete core is the key design considerations for concrete-filled steel tube columns. In a concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) column, the steel tube provides confinement to the concrete core which permits the composite action among the steel tube and the concrete. Due to construction faults and plastic shrinkage of concrete, the debonding separation at the steel-concrete interface weakens the confinement effect, and hence affects the behaviour and bearing capacity of the composite member. This study investigates the axial loading behavior of the concrete filled circular steel tube columns with debonding separation. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model of CFST composite columns with introduced debonding gap was developed. The results from the finite element analysis captured successfully the experimental behaviours. The calibrated finite element models were then utilized to assess the influence of concrete strength, steel yield stress and the steel-concrete ratio on the debonding behaviour. The findings indicate a likely significant drop in the load carrying capacity with the increase of the size of the debonding gap. A design formula is proposed to reduce the load carrying capacity with the presence of debonding separation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.257-284
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• 2006

The behaviour of hollow structural steel (HSS) stub columns and beams filled with normal concrete and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) under instantaneous loading was investigated experimentally. A total of 40 specimens, including 30 stub columns and 10 beams, were tested. The main parameters varied in the tests were: (1) recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement ratio, from 0 to 50%, (2) sectional type, circular and square. The main objectives of these tests were threefold: first, to describe a series of tests on new composite columns; second, to analyze the influence of RCA replacement ratio on the compressive and flexural behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete filled steel tubes (RACFST), and finally, to compare the accuracy of the predicted ultimate strength, bending moment capacity and flexural stiffness of the composite specimens by using the recommendations of ACI318-99 (1999), AIJ (1997), AISC-LRFD (1999), BS5400 (1979), DBJ13-51-2003 (2003) and EC4 (1994).

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.417-430
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• 2017

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has aroused interest around the world owing to superior mechanical and durability properties over conventional concrete. However, the application of UHPC in practice poses difficulties due to its inherent brittleness. UHPC filled in steel tube columns (UHPC-FSTCs) are capable of restricting the brittle failure of non-reinforced UHPC columns and forming a high performance member with enhancement of strength and ductility. Currently, research on UHPC-FSTCs remains very limited and there is relatively little information about the mechanical behavior of these columns. Therefore, this study presents a review of past experimental studies to have a deeper insight into the compressive behavior of UHPC-FSTCs under axial loading on entire section and on concrete core. Based on the test results obtained from Schneider (2006) and Xiong (2012), an analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of the confinement index (${\xi}$) and diameter to steel tube thickness ratio (D/t) on the strength and the ductility in short circular UHPC-FSTCs. Furthermore, the appropriateness of current design codes including EC4, AISC, AIJ and previous analytical models for estimating the ultimate loads of composite columns was also examined by the comparison between the predictions and the test results. Finally, simplified formulae for predicting the ultimate loads in two types of loading pattern were proposed and verified.