• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.645-661
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• 2023

Concrete-filled steel tubular columns with double inner steel tubes (CFST-DIST) are a novel type of composite members developed from conventional concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns. This paper investigates the structural performance of circular CFST-DIST stub columns using nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis. A numerical model was developed and verified against existing experimental test results. The validated model was then used to compare circular CFST-DIST stub columns' behavior with their concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) and CFST counterparts. A parametric study was performed to ascertain the effects of geometric and material properties on the axial performance of CFST-DISTs. The FE results and the available test data were used to assess the accuracy of the European and American design regulations in predicting the axial compressive capacity of circular CFST-DIST stub columns. Finally, a new design model was recommended for estimating the compressive capacity of CFST-DISTs. Results clarified that circular CFST-DIST columns had the advantages of their CFST counterparts but with better ductility and strength-to-weight ratio. Besides, the investigated design codes led to conservative predictions of the compressive capacity of circular CFST-DIST columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.19-38
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• 2009

The present paper provides test data to evaluate the seismic performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) filled steel square hollow section (SHS) beam-columns. Fifteen specimens, including 12 RAC filled steel tubular (RACFST) columns and 3 reference conventional concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) columns, were tested under reversed cyclic flexural loading while subjected to constant axially compressive load. The test parameters include: (1) axial load level (n), from 0.05 to 0.47; and (2) recycled coarse aggregate replacement ratio (r), from 0 to 50%. It was found that, generally, the seismic performance of RACFST columns was similar to that of the reference conventional CFST columns, and RACFST columns exhibited high levels of bearing capacity and ductility. Comparisons are made with predicted RACFST beam-column bearing capacities and flexural stiffness using current design codes. A theoretical model for conventional CFST beam-columns is employed in this paper for square RACFST beam-columns. The predicted load versus deformation hysteretic curves are found to exhibit satisfactory agreement with test results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.587-606
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• 2012

Concrete-filled-steel-tubular (CFST) columns have been well proven to improve effectively the strength, stiffness and ductility of concrete members. However, the central part of concrete in CFST columns is not fully utilised under uni-axial compression, bending and torsion. It has small contribution to both flexural and torsion strength, while it can be replaced effectively by steel with smaller area to give similar load-carrying capacity. Also, the confining pressure in CFST columns builds up slowly because the initial elastic dilation of concrete is small before micro-crackings of concrete are developed. From these observations, it is convinced that the central concrete can be effectively replaced by another hollow steel tube with smaller area to form double-skinned concrete-filled-steel-tubular (CFDST) columns. In this study, a series of uni-axial compression tests were carried out on CFDST and CFST columns with and without external steel rings. From the test results, it was observed that on average that the stiffness and elastic strength of CFDST columns are about 25.8% and 33.4% respectively larger than CFST columns with similar equivalent area. The averaged axial load-carrying capacity of CFDST columns is 7.8% higher than CFST columns. Lastly, a theoretical model that takes into account the confining effects of steel tube and external rings for predicting the uni-axial load-carrying capacity of CFDST columns is developed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권6호
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• pp.619-645
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• 2024

In the construction industry, composite structures have revolutionized traditional design principles, opening innovative possibilities. The Concrete Encased - Concrete Filled Steel Tubular (CE-CFST) column stands out as a distinctive composite structure, offering structural stability and resilience for various engineering applications. Comprising Reinforced Concrete (RC) and Concrete Filled Steel Tubular (CFST) components, CE-CFST columns are valued for their inherent properties, including ductility and rigidity, CE-CFST is commonly used in the construction of bridges, high-rise buildings, and more. This article aims to provide a concise overview of the evolutionary development of CE-CFST columns and their performance in structural applications. Through a comprehensive review, the study delves into the behaviour of CE-CFST columns under different scenarios. It examines the influences of key parameters such as size, infills, cross section, failure causes, and design codes on the performance of CE-CFST columns, highlighting their enhanced functionality and future potential. Moreover, the review meticulously examines previous applications of CE-CFST columns, offering insights into their practical implementation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.615-627
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• 2019

This paper aims to study the compressive behavior of circular hollow and concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns under simulated marine atmospheric corrosion. The specimens after salt spray corrosion were tested under axial compressive load. Steel grade and corrosion level were mainly considered in the study. The mechanical behavior of circular CFST specimens is compared with that of the corresponding hollow ones. Design methods for circular hollow and concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns are modified to consider the effect of marine atmospheric corrosion. The results show that linear fitting curves could be used to present the relationship between corrosion rate and the mechanical properties of steel after simulated marine atmospheric corrosion. The ultimate strength of hollow steel tubular and CFST columns decrease with the increase of corrosion rate while the ultimate displacement of those are hardly affected by corrosion rate. Increasing corrosion rate would change the failure of CFST stub column from ductile failure to brittle failure. Corrosion rate would decrease the ductility indexes of CFST columns, rather than those of hollow steel tubular columns. The confinement factor ${\xi}$ of CFST columns decreases with the increase of corrosion rate while the ratio between test value and nominal value shows an opposite trend. With considering marine atmospheric corrosion, the predicted axial strength of hollow steel tubular and CFST columns by Chinese standard agree well with the tested values while the predictions by Japanese standard seem conservative.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제43권6호
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• pp.689-706
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• 2022

Thin-walled square concrete-filled double steel tubular (CFDST) columns composed of the inner circular tube filled with concrete can be used to carry the large axial loads or strengthen existing CFST columns in composite constructions. This paper reports an experimental program carried out on short square CFDST columns loaded concentrically. The influences of important column parameters on the post-buckling performance of such columns are investigated. Test results exhibit that the inner circular tube significantly improves the ultimate loads and the ductility of such columns compared to conventional concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) and double-skin CFST (DCFST) columns with an inner void. A mathematical model developed is used to simulate the ultimate strengths and load-strain curves of such columns loaded axially. Furthermore, the ultimate strengths of such columns are predicted using existing codified design models for conventional CFST columns as well as the formulas proposed by previous researchers and compared against a large database comprising 500 CFDST columns. Lastly, an accurate artificial neural network model is developed for the practical applications of such columns under axial loading.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제49권5호
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• pp.533-546
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• 2023

Cost-effective solutions provided by composite construction are gaining popularity which, in turn, promotes the appearance on the market of new types of composite sections that allow not only to take advantage of the synergy of steel and concrete working together at room temperature, but also to improve their behaviour at high temperatures. When combined with high performance materials, significant load-bearing capacities can be achieved even with reduced cross-sectional dimensions. Steel-reinforced concrete-filled steel tubular (SR-CFST) columns are one of these innovative composite sections, where an open steel profile is embedded into a CFST section. Besides the renowned benefits of these typologies at room temperature, the fire protection offered by the surrounding concrete to the inner steel profile, gives them an enhanced fire performance which delays its loss of mechanical capacity in a fire scenario. The experimental evidence on the fire behaviour of SR-CFST columns is still scarce, particularly when combined with high performance materials. However, it is being much needed for the development of specific design provisions that consider the use of the inner steel profile in CFST columns. In this work, a new experimental program on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of SR-CFST columns is presented to extend the available experimental database. Ten SR-CFST stub columns, with circular and square geometries, combining high strength steel and concrete were tested. It was seen that the circular specimens reached higher failure times than the square columns, with the failure time increasing both when high strength steel was used at the embedded steel profile and high strength concrete was used as infill. Finally, different proposals for the reduction coefficients of high performance materials were assessed in the prediction of the cross-sectional fire resistance of the SR-CFST columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.663-675
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• 2016

The effects of slenderness ratio, eccentricity and column slope on the load-carrying capacities and failure modes of variable and uniform concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) latticed columns under axial and eccentric compression were investigated and compared in this study. The results clearly show that all the CFST latticed columns with variable cross section exhibit an overall failure, which is similar to that of CFST latticed columns with a uniform cross section. The load-carrying capacity decreases with the increase of the slenderness ratio or the eccentricity. For 2-m specimens with a slenderness ratio of 9, the ultimate load-carrying capacity is increased by 3% and 5% for variable CFST latticed columns with a slope of 1:40 and 1:20 as compared with that of uniform CFST latticed columns, respectively. For the eccentrically compressed variable CFST latticed columns, the strain of the columns at the loading side, as well as the difference in the strain, increases from the bottom to the cap, and a more significant increase in strain is observed in the cross section closer to the column cap.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.111-129
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• 2015

This paper first presents an experimental study of twelve specimens for their creep performance, including nine concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns and three plain concrete columns, subjected to three levels of sustained axial loads for 1710 days. Then, the creep strain curves are predicted from the existing creep models including the ACI 209 model, the MC 78 model, and the MC 90 model, and further a fitted creep model is obtained by experimental data. Finally, the creep effects of a CFST arch bridge are analyzed to compare the accuracy of the existing creep models. The experimental results show that the creep strains in CFST specimens are far less than in the plain concrete specimens and still increase after two years. The ACI 209 model outperforms the MC 78 model and the MC 90 model when predicting the creep behavior of the CFST specimens. Analysis results indicate that the creep effects in the CFST arch bridge are significant. The deflections and stresses calculated by the ACI 209 model are the closest to the fitted model in the three existing models, demonstrating that the ACI 209 model can be used for creep analysis of CFST arch bridges and can meet the engineering accuracy requirement when lack of experimental data.

• 국제초고층학회논문집
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.327-342
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• 2018

Geopolymer concrete (GPC), which is recognised as an environmentally friendly alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, has been reported to possess high fire resistance. However, very limited research has been conducted to investigate the behaviour of geopolymer concrete-filled steel tubular (GCFST) columns at either ambient or elevated temperatures. This paper presents the compressive test results of a total of 15 circular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) stub columns, including 5 specimens tested at room temperature, 5 specimens tested at elevated temperatures and the remaining 5 specimens tested for residual strength after exposure to elevated temperatures. The main variables in the test program include: (a) concrete type; (b) concrete strength; and (c) curing condition of geopolymer concrete. The test results demonstrate that GCFST columns have similar ambient temperature behaviour compared with the conventional CFST counterparts. However, GCFST columns exhibit better fire resistance than the conventional CFST columns. Meanwhile, it is found that the GCFST column made with heat cured GPC has lower strength loss than other columns after exposure to elevated temperatures. The research results highlight the possibility of using geopolymer concrete to improve the fire resistance of CFST columns.