• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.121-139
• /
• 2021

Ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) encased steel columns are receiving growing interest in high-rise buildings owing to their economic and architectural advantages. However, UHSC encased steel columns are not covered by the modern fire safety design code. A total of 14 fire tests are conducted on UHSC (120 MPa) encased steel columns under constant axial loads and exposed to ISO-834 standard fire. The effect of load ratio, slenderness, stirrup spacing, cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel on the fire resistance and failure mode of the specimens are investigated. The applicability of the tabulated method in EC4 (EN 1994-1-2-2005) and regression formula in Chinese code (DBJ/T 15-81-2011) to fire resistance of UHSC encased steel columns are checked. Generally, the test results reveal that the vertical displacement-heating time curves can be divided into two phases, i.e. thermal expansion and shortening to failure. It is found that the fire resistance of column specimens increases with the increase of the cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel, but decreases with the increase of the load ratio and slenderness. The EC4 method overestimates the fire resistance up to 186% (220 min), while the Chinese code underestimates it down to 49%. The Chinese code has a better agreement than EC4 with the test results since the former considers the effect of the load ratio, slenderness, cross section size directly in its empirical formula. To estimate the fire resistance precisely can improve the economy of structural fire design of ultra-high strength concrete encased steel columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.287-303
• /
• 2014

8 steel reinforced concrete (SRC) columns with the encased steel ratio of 13.12% and 15.04% respectively were tested under the test axial load ratio of 0.33-0.80 and the low-frequency cyclic lateral loading. The cross sectional area of composite columns was $500mm{\times}500mm$. The mechanical properties, failure modes and deformabilities were studied. All the specimens produced flexure failure subject to combined axial force, bending moment and shear. Force-displacement hysteretic curves, strain curves of encased steels and rebars were obtained. The interaction behavior of encased steel and concrete were verified. The hysteretic curves of columns were plump in shapes. Hysteresis loops were almost coincident under the same levels of lateral loading, and bearing capacities did not change much, which indicated that the columns had good energy-dissipation performance and seismic capacity. Based on the equilibrium equation, the suggested practical calculation method could accurately predict the flexural strength of SRC columns with cross-shaped section encased steel. The obtained M-N curves of SRC columns can be used as references for further studies.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.449-472
• /
• 2016

This paper studies the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) walls with encased cold-formed and thin-walled (CFTW) steel truss, which can be used as an alternative to the conventional RC walls or steel reinforced concrete (SRC) composite walls for high-rise buildings in high seismic regions. Seven one-fourth scaled RC wall specimens with encased CFTW steel truss were designed, manufactured and tested to failure under reversed cyclic lateral load and constant axial load. The test parameters were the axial load ratio, configuration and volumetric steel ratio of encased web brace. The behaviors of the test specimens, including damage formation, failure mode, hysteretic curves, stiffness degradation, ductility and energy dissipation, were examined. Test results indicate that the encased web braces can effectively improve the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of RC walls. The steel angles are more suitable to be used as the web brace than the latticed batten plates in enhancing the ductility and energy dissipation. Higher axial load ratio is beneficial to lateral load capacity, but can result in reduced ductility and energy dissipation capacity. A volumetric ratio about 0.25% of encased web brace is believed cost-effective in ensuring satisfactory seismic performance of RC walls. The axial load ratio should not exceed the maximum level, about 0.20 for the nominal value or about 0.50 for the design value. Numerical analyses were performed to predict the backbone curves of the specimens and calculation formula from the Chinese Code for Design of Composite Structures was used to predict the maximum lateral load capacity. The comparison shows good agreement between the test and predicted results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.211-227
• /
• 2020

To explore the feasibility of eliminating the longitudinal rebars and stirrups by using ultra-high-performance fiber reinforcement concrete (UHPFRC) in concrete encased steel composite stub column, compressive behavior of UHPFRC encased steel stub column has been experimentally investigated. Effect of concrete types (normal strength concrete, high strength concrete and UHPFRC), fiber fractions, and transverse reinforcement ratio on failure mode, ductility behavior and axial compressive resistance of composite columns have been quantified through axial compression tests. The experimental results show that concrete encased composite columns with NSC and HSC exhibit concrete crushing and spalling failure, respectively, while composite columns using UHPFRC exhibit concrete spitting and no concrete spalling is observed after failure. The incorporation of steel fiber as micro reinforcement significantly improves the concrete toughness, restrains the crack propagation and thus avoids the concrete spalling. No evidence of local buckling of rebars or yielding of stirrups has been detected in composite columns using UHPFRC. Steel fibers improve the bond strength between the concrete and, rebars and core shaped steel which contribute to the improvement of confining pressure on concrete. Three prediction models in Eurocode 4, AISC 360 and JGJ 138 and a proposed toughness index (T.I.) are employed to evaluate the compressive resistance and post peak ductility of the composite columns. It is found that all these three models predict close the compressive resistance of UHPFRC encased composite columns with/without the transverse reinforcement. UHPFRC encased composite columns can achieve a comparable level of ductility with the reinforced concrete (RC) columns using normal strength concrete. In terms of compressive resistance behavior, the feasibility of UHPFRC encased steel composite stub columns with lesser longitudinal reinforcement and stirrups has been verified in this study.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.97-107
• /
• 2019

The frame structures investigated in this paper is composed of Concrete encased columns with L-shaped steel section and steel beams. The seismic behavior of this structural system is studied through experimental and numerical studies. A 2-bay, 3-story and 1/3 scaled frame specimen is tested under constant axial loading and cyclic lateral loading applied on the column top. The load-displacement hysteretic loops, ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness and strength degradation are investigated. A typical failure mode is observed in the test, and the experimental results show that this type of framed structure exhibit a high strength with good ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Furthermore, finite element analysis software Perform-3D was conducted to simulate the behavior of the frame. The calculating results agreed with the test ones well. Further analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of parameters including concrete strength, column axial compressive force and steel ratio on the seismic performance indexes, such as the elastic stiffness, the maximum strength, the ductility coefficient, the strength and stiffness degradation, and the equivalent viscous damping ratio. It can be concluded that with the axial compression ratio increasing, the load carrying capacity and ductility decreased. The load carrying capacity and ductility increased when increasing the steel ratio. Increasing the concrete grade can improve the ultimate bearing capacity of the structure, but the ductility of structure decreases slightly.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.37-50
• /
• 2023

This paper presented an investigation into steel tubes encased high-strength concrete (STHC) composite walls, wherein steel tubes were embedded at the boundary elements of high-strength concrete walls. A series of cyclic loading tests was conducted to evaluate the failure pattern, hysteresis characteristics, load-bearing capacity, deformability, and strain distribution of STHC composite walls. The test results demonstrated that the bearing capacity and ductility of the STHC composite walls improved with the embedding of steel tubes at the boundary elements. An analytical method was then established to predict the flexural bearing capacity of the STHC composite walls, and the calculated results agreed well with the experimental values, with errors of less than 10%. Finally, a finite element modeling (FEM) was developed via the OpenSees program to analyze the mechanical performance of the STHC composite wall. The FEM was validated through test results; additionally, the influences of the axial load ratio, steel tube strength, and shear-span ratio on the mechanical properties of STHC composite walls were comprehensively investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.785-796
• /
• 2022

Concrete-encased steel (CES) beam, in which structural steel is encased in a reinforced concrete (RC) section, is widely applied in high-rise buildings as transfer beams due to its high load-carrying capacity, great stiffness, and good durability. However, these CES beams are prone to shear failure because of the low shear span-to-depth ratio and the heavy load. Due to the high load-carrying capacity and the brittle failure process of the shear failure, the accurate strength prediction of CES beams significantly influences the assessment of structural safety. In current design codes, design formulas for predicting the shear strength of CES beams are based on the so-called "superposition method". This method indicates that the shear strength of CES beams can be obtained by superposing the shear strengths of the RC part and the steel shape. Nevertheless, in some cases, this method yields errors on the unsafe side because the shear strengths of these two parts cannot be achieved simultaneously. This paper clarifies the conditions at which the superposition method does not hold true, and the shear strength of CES beams is investigated using a compatible truss-arch model. Considering the deformation compatibility between the steel shape and the RC part, the method to obtain the shear strength of CES beams is proposed. Finally, the proposed model is compared with other calculation methods from codes AISC 360 (USA, North America), Eurocode 4 (Europe), YB 9082 (China, Asia), JGJ 138 (China, Asia), and AS/NZS 2327 (Australia/New Zealand, Oceania) using the available test data consisting of 45 CES beams. The results indicate that the proposed model can predict the shear strength of CES beams with sufficient accuracy and safety. Without considering the deformation compatibility, the calculation methods from the codes AISC 360, Eurocode 4, YB 9082, JGJ 138, and AS/NZS 2327 lead to excessively conservative or unsafe predictions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.171-185
• /
• 2001

The design of tall buildings has recently provided many challenges to structural engineers. One such challenge is to minimise the cross-sectional dimensions of columns to ensure greater floor space in a building is attainable. This has both an economic and aesthetics benefit in buildings, which require structural engineering solutions. The use of high strength steel in tall buildings has the ability to achieve these benefits as the material provides a higher strength to cross-section ratio. However as the strength of the steel is increased the buckling characteristics become more dominant with slenderness limits for both local and global buckling becoming more significant. To arrest the problems associated with buckling of high strength steel, concrete filling and encasement can be utilised as it has the affect of changing the buckling mode, which increases the strength and stiffness of the member. This paper describes an experimental program undertaken for both encased and concrete filled composite columns, which were designed to be stocky in nature and thus fail by strength alone. The columns were designed to consider the strength in axial compression and were fabricated from high strength steel plate. In addition to the encased and concrete filled columns, unencased columns and hollow columns were also fabricated and tested to act as calibration specimens. A model for the axial strength was suggested and this is shown to compare well with the test results. Finally aspects of further research are addressed in this paper which include considering the effects of slender columns which may fail by global instabilities.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.121-134
• /
• 2024

To investigate the compressive behavior of partially encased recycled aggregate concrete (PERAC) stub columns after exposed to elevated temperatures, 22 specimens were tested. The maximum temperature suffered, the replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), the endurance time and the spacing between links were considered as the main parameters. It was found that the failure mode of post-heated PERAC columns generally matched that of traditional partially encased composite (PEC) columns, but the flange of specimens appeared premature buckling after undergoing the temperature of 400℃ and above. Additionally, the ultimate strength and ductility of the specimens deteriorated with the elevated temperatures and extended heating time. When 400℃< T ≤ 600℃, the strength reduction range is the largest, about 11% ~ 17%. The higher the replacement ratio of RCA, the lower the ultimate strength of specimens. At the temperature of 600℃, the ultimate strength of specimens with the RCA replacement ratio of 50% and 100% is 0.94 and 0.91 times than that of specimens without RCA, respectively. But the specimen with 50% replacement ratio of RCA showed the best ductility performance. And the bearing capacity and ductility of PERAC stub columns were changed for the better due to the application of links. When the RCA replacement ratio is 100%, the ultimate strength of specimens with the link spacing of 100 mm and 50 mm increased 14% and 25% than that of the specimen without links, respectively. Based on the results above, a formula for calculating the ultimate strength of PERAC stub columns after exposure to high temperatures was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2004.11a
• /
• pp.97-100
• /
• 2004

Steel encased composite columns are widely used due to their excellent structural performance in terms of stiffness, strength, and ductility. However, experimental studies were usually for the columns having higher steel ratio $(3-4\%)$. There are two different design concepts for SRC columns. ACI-318 specifies the design strength of the column using the same concept of reinforced concrete columns. AISC-LRFD specifies the P-M diagram using the concept of steel column. In this paper, SRC columns have the steel ratio of $0.53\%\;and\;1.06\%$. From the test results, ACI-318 specifications showed better evaluation of SRC columns having low steel ratio. H beam and steel tube partially filled with concrete were embedded in concrete. Flexural tests showed considerably high ductility.