• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.735-748
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• 2018

In this paper, the cyclic behavior of steel beam-concrete encased steel (CES) column joints was investigated experimentally and numerically. Three frame middle joint samples with varying concrete slab widths were constructed. Anti-symmetrical low-frequency cyclic load was applied at two beam ends to simulate the earthquake action. The failure modes, hysteretic behavior, ultimate load, stiffness degradation, load carrying capacity degradation, displacement ductility and strain response were investigated in details. The three composite joints exhibited excellent seismic performance in experimental tests, showing high load-carrying capacity, good ductility and superior energy dissipation ability. All three joint samples reached their ultimate loads due to shear failure. Numerical results from ABAQUS modelling agreed well with the test results. Finally, the effect of the concrete slab on ultimate load was analyzed through a parametric study on concrete strength, slab thickness, as well as slab width. Numerical simulation showed that slab width and thickness played an important role in the load-carrying capacity of such joints. As a comparison, the influence of concrete grade was not significant.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.849-864
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• 2019

One way to achieve sustainable construction is to reduce concrete consumption by use of more sustainable and higher strength concrete. Modern building codes do not cover the use of ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) in the design of composite structures. Against such background, this paper investigates experimentally the mechanical properties of steel fibre-reinforced UHSC and then the structural behaviors of UHSC encased steel (CES) members under both concentric and eccentric compressions as well as pure bending. The effects of steel-fibre dosage and spacing of stirrups were studied, and the applicability of Eurocode 4 design approach was checked. The test results revealed that the strength of steel stirrups could not be fully utilized to provide confinement to the UHSC. The bond strength between UHSC and steel section was improved by adding the steel fibres into the UHSC. Reducing the spacing of stirrups or increasing the dosage of steel fibres was beneficial to prevent premature spalling of the concrete cover thus mobilize the steel section strength to achieve higher compressive capacity. Closer spacing of stirrups and adding 0.5% steel fibres in UHSC enhanced the post-peak ductility of CES columns. It is concluded that the code-specified reduction factors applied to the concrete strength and moment resistance can account for the loss of load capacity due to the premature spalling of concrete cover and partial yielding of the encased steel section.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제88권1호
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• pp.25-42
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• 2023

This paper presents a finite element (FE) simulation of eccentrically loaded lightweight aggregate concrete-encased steel (LACES) columns with H-shaped steel sections, analytical equations are also established to estimate the columns' axial and bending moment interaction capacities. The validity of the proposed models is checked by comparing the results with experimental data. Good agreements between the test and proposed models' results are found with acceptable agreements. Moreover, design parameters, including the lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) strength, eccentricity, column slenderness ratio, and confinement, are studied using the FE analysis, and their efficiency factors are discussed. The results show that the ultimate axial capacity of the LACES composite columns subjected to eccentric loading is negatively affected by the increase in the columns' height, but it is positively affected by the increase of the confinement. Increasing the eccentricity and columns' height reduced the columns'stiffness. In addition, the ultimate capacity of the LACES column is significantly influenced by the LWAC strength and eccentricity, where the ultimate capacity of the LACES column is significantly increased by increasing LWAC strength, and it is remarkably decreased by increasing the eccentricity. When the eccentricity changed from zero to 70 mm, the ultimate axial capacity and stiffness decreased by 67.97% and 63.56%, respectively.