• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.833-852
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• 2015

Self-compacting Concrete Filled steel Tubes (SCFT), which combines the advantages of steel and concrete materials, can be applied to strengthen the RC columns. In order to investigate the eccentric loading behavior of the strengthened columns, this paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on them. The experimental results showed that the use of SCFT is interesting since the ductility and the bearing capacity of the RC columns are greatly improved. And the performance of strengthened columns is significantly affected by four parameters: column section type (circular and square), wall thickness of the steel tube, designed strength grade of strengthening concrete and initial eccentricity. In the numerical program, a generic fiber element model which takes in account the effect of confinement is developed to predict the behavior of the strengthened columns subjected to eccentric loading. After the fiber element analysis was verified against experimental results, a simple design formula based on the model is proposed to calculate the ultimate eccentric strength. Calibration of the calculated results against the test results shows that the design formula closely estimates the ultimate capacities of the eccentrically compressed strengthened columns by 5%.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.173-185
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• 2019

This article presents a comparative study of the effect of steel layouts on the seismic behavior of transition steel-concrete composite connections, both experimental and analytical investigations of concrete filled steel tube-reinforced concrete (CFST-RC) and steel reinforecd concrete-reinforced concrete (SRC-RC) structures were conducted. The steel-concrete composite connections were subjected to combined constant axial load and lateral cyclic displacements. Tests were carried out on four full-scale connections extracted from a real project engineering with different levels of axial force. The effect of steel layouts on the mechanical behavior of the transition connections was evaluated by failure modes, hysteretic behavior, backbone curves, displacement ductility, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation. Test results showed that different steel layouts led to significantly different failure modes. For CFST-RC transition specimens, the circular cracks of the concrete at the RC column base was followed by steel yielding at the bottom of the CFST column. While uncoordinated deformation could be observed between SRC and RC columns in SRC-RC transition specimens, the crushing and peeling damage of unconfined concrete at the SRC column base was more serious. The existences of I-shape steel and steel tube avoided the pinching phenomenon on the hysteresis curve, which was different from the hysteresis curve of the general reinforced concrete column. The hysteresis loops were spindle-shaped, indicating excellent seismic performance for these transition composite connections. The average values of equivalent viscous damping coefficients of the four specimens are 0.123, 0.186 and 0.304 corresponding to the yielding point, peak point and ultimate point, respectively. Those values demonstrate that the transition steel-concrete composite connections have great energy dissipating capacity. Based on the experimental research, a high-fidelity ABAQUS model was established to further study the influence of concrete strength, steel grade and longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the mechanical behavior of transition composite connections.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.293-308
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• 2015

Interaction between the external thin-walled steel tube and the internal concrete core significantly increases the bending resistance of composite beams and beam-columns in comparison with the steel or concrete members. There is presented a developed method for design of hollow and solid concrete-filled steel tubular beams based on test data, which gives better agreement with test results than EC4 because its limitation to take an increase in strength of concrete caused by confinement contradicts the recommendation of 6.7.2(4) that full composite action up to failure may be assumed between steel and concrete components of the member. Good agreement between the results of carried out experimental, numerical and theoretical investigations allows recommending the proposed method to use in design practice.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.463-478
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• 2006

The design of structural frameworks for buildings is constantly evolving and is dependent on regional issues such as loading and constructability. One of the most promising recent developments for low to medium rise construction in terms of efficiency of construction, robustness and aesthetic appearance utilises concrete-filled steel tubular sections as the columns in a moment-resisting frame. These are coupled to rigid or semi-rigid connections to composite steel-concrete beams. This paper includes the results of a pilot experimental programme leading towards the development of economical, reliable connections that are easily constructed for this type of frame. The connections must provide the requisite strength, stiffness and ductility to suit gravity loading conditions as well as gravity combined with the governing lateral wind or earthquake loading. The aim is to develop connections that are stiffer, less expensive and easier to construct than those in current use. A proposed fabricated T-stub connection is to be used to connect the beam flanges and the column. These T-stubs are connected to the column using "blind bolts" with extensions, allowing installation from the outside of the tube. In general, the use of the extensions results in a dramatic increase in the strength and stiffness of the T-stub to column connection in tension, since the load is shared between membrane action in the tube wall and the anchorage of the bolts through the extensions into the concrete.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.267-282
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• 2013

This paper presents the behavior and design of axially loaded normal and steel fiber reinforced concrete in-filled steel tube (SFRCFT) columns, to examine the contribution of steel fibers on the compressive strength of the composite columns. Non-linear finite element analysis model (FEA) using ANSYS software has been developed and used in the analysis. The confinement effect provided by the steel tube is considered in the analysis. Comparisons of the analytical model results, along with other available experimental outputs from literature have been done to verify the structural model. The compressive strength and stiffness of SFRC composite columns were discussed, and the interpretation of the FEA model results has indicated that, the use of SFRC as infill material has a considerable effect on the strength and stiffness of the composite column. The analytical model results were compared with the existing design methods of composite columns - (EC4, AISC/LRFD and the Egyptian code of Practice for Steel Construction, ECPSC/LRFD). The comparison indicated that, the results of the FEA model were evaluated to an acceptable limit of accuracy. The code design equations were modified to introduce the steel fiber effect and compared with the results of the FEA model for verification.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.4 s.50
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• pp.85-94
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• 2006

In the design of bridge piers in seismic area, the ductility requirement is the most important factor. In order to enhance the seismic performance of RC columns, it is necessary to make the ductility of columns larger by covering RC columns with steel tubes or confining RC columns by arranging transverse reinforcements such as hoop ties closely. Using core steel composite columns is useful as one of the reinforcing RC columns. In this paper, quasi-static tests on concrete encased composite columns with single core steel or multiple steel elements were performed to investigate the seismic performance of the composite columns. Eight concrete-encased composite specimens were fabricated. The cross-sections of these specimens are composed of concrete-encased H-shaped structural steel columns and a concrete-encased circular tube with partial in-filled concrete. Test parameters were the amount of the transverse reinforcements, type and number of encased steel member. Through the tests, it was evaluated the ductility of SRC composite specimens. It has become clear from the test results that encased steel elements makes the deformation capacity of the columns to be larger. The displacement ductility and lateral strength of specimen with concrete-encased circular tube were indicated the biggest value.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.579-582
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• 1999

This paper represents the results of experiments designed to investigate the time-dependent response of concrete and steel tube in circular concrete-filled steel tubes, as are deployed extensively in high-rise building construction. The experiments were performed for creep of concrete and CFT column specimens with three loading cases. The creep coefficient and specific creep(unit creep) obtained from the test results were used for estimating and comparing the time-dependent response of each case. From these analyses, it is show that CFT-column has many merits for long-term behavior.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.9 no.1 s.30
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• pp.121-128
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• 1997

It has been reported by the existing papers that the ultimate load capacity and energy absorption capacity of the CFST column are considerably higher than those resulting from a simple addition of the capacities of the concrete and the steel tube. It is normally believed that the confined effect for the infilled concrete due to the hoop tension of steel at the parameter of cross sections can remarkably improve the ductility and energy absorption capacities of the CFST columns. This paper provides the results of a study on the load-carrying capacities and energy absorption capacities of the CFST columns, a numerical analysis method, i. e. N-M interaction curves and Moment curvature relationships. The numerical approaches are verified by comparing with the existing test results and the circular and square steel tube sections are selected to clarify the amount of confinement effects to improve the ultimate deformable capacity(a ultimate strain value) of the infilled concrete. Then, an adequate value of the ultimate strain of the infilled concrete and an equation of the ultimate capacity of the CFST column are suggested.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.517-527
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• 2017

In this paper, the effect of active confinement on the compressive behaviour of circular steel tube-confined concrete (STCC) and concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns is investigated. In STCC columns the axial load is only applied to the concrete core, while in CFST columns the load is carried by the whole composite section. A new method is introduced to apply confining pressure on fresh concrete by laterally prestressing steel tubes. In order to achieve different prestressing levels, short-term and long-term pressures are applied to the fresh concrete. Three groups of STCC and CFST specimens (passive, S-active and L-active groups) are tested under axial loads. The results including stress-strain relationships of composite column components, secant modulus of elasticity, and volumetric strain are presented and discussed. Based on the elastic-plastic theory, the behaviour of the steel tube is also analyzed during elastic, yielding, and strain hardening stages. The results show that using the proposed prestressing method can considerably improve the compressive behaviour of both STCC and CFST specimens, while increasing the prestressing level has insignificant effects. By applying prestressing, the linear range in the stress-strain curve of STCC specimens increases by almost twice as much, while the improvement is negligible in CFST specimens.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.191-207
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• 2022

Undoubtedly, the employment of direct bond interaction between steel and concrete is preceding the other mechanisms because of its ease of construction. However, the large scatter in the experimental data about the issue has hindered the efforts to characterize bond strength. In the following research, the direct bond interaction and bond-slip behavior of CFTs with circular cross-section were examined through repeated load-reversed push-out tests until four cycles of loading. The influence of different parameters including the diameter of the tube and the use of shear tabs were assessed. Moreover, the utilization of expansive concrete and external spirals was proposed and tested as ways of improving bond strength. According to the results section dimensions, tube slenderness, shrinkage potential of concrete, interface roughness and confinement are key factors in a natural bond. Larger diameters will lead to a considerable drop in bond strength. The use of shear tabs by their associated bending moments increases the bond stress up to eight times. Furthermore, employment of external spirals and expansive concrete have a sensible effect on enhancing bonds. Macro-locking was also found to be the main component in achieving bond strength.