• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 2011

The CFT columns used in thin-walled steel tubes can be more economical, because it was expected the increase of strength by restriction for the local buckling of steel tubes. The purpose of this paper is to review feasibility of existing design formula and verify the applicability limit of width-to-thickness ratio for increasing the strength of rectangular CFT columns. As the main parameters of experiments, width-to-thickness ratios of steel tube, height of rectangular concrete columns, and concrete filled or not. The strength of concrete are selected to 90MPa. From the test results, the confinement effect of steel tube on the compressive strength of infilled concrete is remarkably appeared in the thin-walled rectangular steel tube columns infilled wih high strength concrete. By the non-linear analysis, the axial strength from experiment result was given higher than analysis result for all CFT stub columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.201-219
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• 2022

This paper firstly proposed high performance composite columns for cold-region infrastructures using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) and ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) Q960E. Then, 24 square UHPC-filled UHSS tubes (UHSTCs) at low temperatures of -80, -60, -30, and 30℃ were performed under axial loads. The key influencing parameters on axial compression performance of UHSS were studied, i.e., temperature level and UHSS-tube wall thickness (t). In addition, mechanical properties of Q960E at low temperatures were also studied. Test results revealed low temperatures improved the yield/ultimate strength of Q960E. Axial compression tests on UHSTCs revealed that the dropping environmental temperature increased the compression strength and stiffness, but compromised the ductility of UHSTCs; increasing t significantly increased the strength, stiffness, and ductility of UHSTCs. This study developed numerical and theoretical models to reproduce axial compression performances of UHSTCs at low temperatures. Validations against 24 tests proved that both two methods provided reasonable simulations on axial compression performance of UHSTCs. Finally, simplified theoretical models (STMs) and modified prediction equations in AISC 360, ACI 318, and Eurocode 4 were developed to estimate the axial load capacity of UHSTCs at low temperatures.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2014

Ultra-high strength concrete and high tensile steel are becoming very attractive materials for high-rise buildings because of the need to reduce member size and structural self-weight. However, limited test data and design guidelines are available to support the applications of high strength materials for building constructions. This paper presents significant findings from comprehensive experimental investigations on the behaviour of tubular columns in-filled with ultra-high strength concrete at ambient and elevated temperatures. A series of tests was conducted to investigate the basic mechanical properties of the high strength materials, and structural behaviour of stub columns under concentric compression, beams under moment and slender beam-columns under concentric and eccentric compression. High tensile steel with yield strength up to 780 MPa and ultra-high strength concrete with compressive cylinder strength up to 180 MPa were used to construct the test specimens. The test results were compared with the predictions using a modified Eurocode 4 approach. In addition, more than 2000 test data samples collected from literature on concrete filled steel tubes with normal and high strength materials were also analysed to formulate the design guide for implementation in practice.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.441-456
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• 2023

Aiming at the development trend of light weight and high strength of engineering structures, this paper experimentally investigated the seismic performance of circular-in-square high-strength concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (HCFDST) stub columns with out-of-code width-to-thickness (B/t) ratios. Typical failure mode of HCFDST stub columns appeared with the infill material crushing, steel fracture and local buckling of outer tubes as well as the inner buckling of inner tubes. Subsequently, the detailed analysis on hysteretic curves, skeleton curves and ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness degradation and lateral force reduction was conducted to reflect the influences of hollow ratios, axial compression ratios and infill types, e.g., increasing hollow ratio from 0.54 to 0.68 and 0.82 made a slight effect on bearing capacity compared to the ductility coefficients; the higher axial compression ratio (e.g., 0.3 versus 0.1) significantly reduced the average bearing capacity and ductility; the HCFDST column SCFST-6 filled with concrete obviously displayed the larger initial secant stiffness with a percentage 34.20% than the column SCFST-2 using engineered cementitious composite (ECC); increasing hollow ratios, axial compression ratios could accelerate the drop speed of stiffness degradation. The out-of-code HCFDST stub columns with reasonable design could behave favorable hysteretic performance. A theoretical model considering the tensile strength effect of ECC was thereafter established and verified to predict the moment-resisting capacity of HCFDST columns using ECC. The reported research on circular-in-square HCFDST stub columns can provide significant references to the structural application and design.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.371-382
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• 2017

Concrete filled steel tubes are extensively applied in engineering structures due to their resistance to high tensile and compressive load and convenience in construction. But one major flaw, their vulnerability to environmental attack, can severely reduce the strength and life of these structures. Degradation due to corrosion of steel confining the concrete is one of the major durability problems faced by civil engineers to maintain these structures. The problem accelerates as inner surface of steel tube is in contact with concrete which serves as electrolyte. If it remains unnoticed, it further accelerates and can be catastrophic. This paper discusses a non-destructive degradation monitoring technique for early detection corrosion in steel tubes in CFST members. Due to corrosion, damage in the form of debonding and pitting occurs in steel sections. Guided ultrasonic waves have been used as a feasible and attractive solution for the detection and monitoring of corrosion damages in CFST sections. Guided waves have been utilized to monitor the effect of notch and debond defects in concrete filled steel tubes simulating pitting and delamination of steel tubes from surrounding concrete caused by corrosion. Pulse transmission has been used to monitor the healthy and simulated damaged specimens. A methodology is developed and successfully applied for the monitoring of concrete filled steel tubular sections undergoing accelerated chloride corrosion. The ultrasonic signals efficiently narrate the state of steel tube undergoing corrosion.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2011

Recent advances of technology in materials science have made it easy to respond to user's needs on high performance steel in civil and building structures. The high-performance and high-strength steel are required for large scale structure and high-rise building to have high-strength, high fracture toughness and better weldability etc. Therefore development of 600MPa class steel for mega structure is necessary. high strength steels, however, may have mechanical properties that are significantly different from those of the conventional steels. The application of high-strength steels to building structures should be reviewed as to whether inelastic behavior equivalent to that of conventional steels can be attained or not. This study researched the structural behavior of high strength circular tubes compression and under flexure. Three column tests and three flexural tests were carried out. The suitability of existing design formulae(KBC 2009) and the structural behavior were investigated through these columns and beams with various types.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.2 no.5
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• pp.379-396
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• 2002

The paper describes the mechanical behavior of short concrete-filled steel tube (CFT) columns with circular section. The efficiency of the steel tube in confining the concrete core depending on concrete strength and the steel tube thickness was examined. Fifteen columns were tested to failure under concentric axial loading. Furthermore, a mechanical model based on the interaction between the concrete core and the steel tube was developed. The model employs a volumetric strain history for the concrete, characterized by the level of applied confining stress. The situation of passive confinement is accounted for by an incremental procedure, which continuously updates the confining stress. The post-yield behavior of the columns is greatly influenced by the confinement level and is related to the efficiency of the steel tube in confining the concrete core. It is possible to classify the post-yield behavior into three categories: strain softening, perfectly plastic and strain hardening behavior. The softening behavior, which is due to a shear plane failure in the concrete core, was found for some of the CFT columns with high-strength concrete. Nevertheless, with a CFT column, it is possible to use high-strength concrete to obtain higher load resistance and still achieve a good ductile behavior.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2024

In this paper, the porous metal PM-35 is proposed as the filler material of filled thin-walled tubes (FTTs), and a series of experimental study is conducted to investigate the dynamic behavior and energy absorption performance of PM-35 filled thin-walled tubes under impact loading. Firstly, cylinder solid specimens of PM-35 steel are tested to investigate the impact mechanical behavior by using the Split Hopkinson pressure bar set (SHP); Secondly, the filled thin-walled tube specimens with different geometric parameters are designed and tested to investigate the feasibility of PM-35 steel applied in FTTs by the orthogonal test. According to the results of this research, it is concluded that PM-35 steel is with the excellent characteristics of high energy absorption capacity and low yield strength, which make it a potential filler material for FTTs. The micron-sizes pore structure of PM-35 is the main reason for the macroscopic mechanical behavior of PM-35 steel under impact loading, which makes the material to exhibit greater deformation when subjected to external forces and obviously improve the toughness of the material. In addition, PM-35 steel core-filled thin-wall tube has excellent energy absorption ability under high-speed impact, which shows great application potential in the anti-collision structure facilities of high-speed railway and maglev train. The parameter V0 is most sensitive to the energy absorption of FTT specimens under impact loading, and the sensitivity order of different variations to the energy absorption is loading speed V0>D/t>D/L. The loading efficiency of the FTT is affected by its different geometry, which is mainly determined by the sleeve material and the filling material, which are not sensitive to changes in loading speed V0, D/t and D/L parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.199-212
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• 2019

This paper presents an investigation on seismic behavior of out-of-code Q690 circular high-strength concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubular (HCFTST) columns made up of high-strength (HS) steel tubes (yield strength $f_y{\geq}690MPa$). Eight Q690 circular HCFTST columns with various diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios, concrete cylinder compressive strengths ($f_c$) and axial compression ratios (n) were tested under the constant axial loading and reversed cyclic lateral loading. The obtained lateral load-displacement hysteretic curves, energy dissipation, skeleton curves and ductility, and stiffness degradation were analyzed in detail to reflect the influences of tested parameters. Subsequently, a simplified shear strength model was derived and validated by the test results. Finally, a finite element analysis (FEA) model incorporating a stress triaxiality dependent fracture criterion was established to simulate the seismic behavior. The systematic investigation indicates the following: compared to the D/t ratio and axial compression ratio, improving the concrete compressive strength (e.g., the HS thin-walled steel tube filled with HS concrete) had a slight influence on the ductility but an obvious enhancement of energy dissipation and peak load; the simplified shear strength model based on truss mechanism accurately predicted the shear-resisting capacity; and the established FEA model incorporating steel fracture criterion simulated well the seismic behavior (e.g., hysteretic curve, local buckling and fracture), which can be applied to the seismic analysis and design of Q690 circular HCFTST columns.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.91-104
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• 2012

There is relatively little numerical study on the behavior of eccentrically loaded high strength rectangular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) slender beam-columns with large depth-to-thickness ratios, which may undergo local and global buckling. This paper presents a multiscale numerical model for simulating the interaction local and global buckling behavior of high strength thin-walled rectangular CFST slender beam-columns under eccentric loading. The effects of progressive local buckling are taken into account in the mesoscale model based on fiber element formulations. Computational algorithms based on the M$\ddot{u}$ller's method are developed to obtain complete load-deflection responses of CFST slender beam-columns at the macroscale level. Performance indices are proposed to quantify the performance of CFST slender beam-columns. The accuracy of the multiscale numerical model is examined by comparisons of computer solutions with existing experimental results. The numerical model is utilized to investigate the effects of concrete compressive strength, depth-to-thickness ratio, loading eccentricity ratio and column slenderness ratio on the performance indices. The multiscale numerical model is shown to be accurate and efficient for predicting the interaction buckling behavior of high strength thin-walled CFST slender beam-columns.