• 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.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.545-556
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• 2017

The tubed steel reinforced concrete (SRC) column is a composite column in which the outer steel tube is mainly used to provide confinement on the core concrete. This paper presents experimental and analytical studies on the behavior of circular tubed SRC (TSRC) columns subjected to axial compression. Eight circular TSRC columns were tested to investigate the effects of length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) of the specimens, diameter-to-thickness ratio (D/t) of the steel tubes, and use of stud shear connectors on the steel sections. Elastic-plastic analysis on the steel tubes was used to investigate the mechanism of confinement on the core concrete. The test results indicated that the tube confinement increased the strength and deformation capacity for both short and slender columns, and the effects on strength were more pronounced for short columns. A nonlinear finite element (FE) model was developed using ABAQUS, in which the nonlinear material behavior and initial geometric imperfection were included. Good agreement was achieved between the predicted results using the FE model and the test results. The test and FE results were compared with the predicted strengths calculated by Eurocode 4 and the AISC Standard. Based on the analytical results, a new design method for this composite column was proposed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.469-481
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• 2017

This paper aims to analytically investigate the effect of shear stress at the concrete-steel interface on the mechanical behavior of the circular steel tube-confined concrete (STCC) stub columns with active and passive confinement subjected to axial compression. Nonlinear 3D finite element models divided into the four groups, i.e. circumferential-grooved, talc-coated, lubricated, and normal groups, with active and passive confinement were developed. An innovative method was used to simulate the actively-confined specimens, and then, the results of the finite element models were compared with those of the experiments previously conducted by the authors. It was revealed that both the predicted peak compressive strength and stress-strain curves have good agreement with the corresponding values measured for the confined columns. Then, the mechanical properties of the active and passive specimens such as the concrete-steel interaction, longitudinal and hoop stresses of the steel tube, confining pressure applied to the concrete core, and compressive stress-strain curves were analyzed. Furthermore, a parametric study was performed to explore the effects of the concrete compressive strength, steel tube diameter-to-wall thickness ratio, and prestressing level on the compressive behavior of the STCC columns. The results indicate that reducing or removing the interfacial shear stress in the active and passive specimens leads to an increase in the hoop stress and confining pressure, while the longitudinal stress along the steel tube height experiences a decrease. Moreover, prestressing via the presented method is capable of improving the compressive behavior of STCC columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.411-422
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• 2019

Six shear-critical square tubed steel reinforced concrete (TSRC) columns using the high-strength concrete ($f_{cu,150}=86.6MPa$) were tested under constant axial and lateral cyclic loads. The height-to-depth ratio of the short column specimens was specified as 2.6, and the axial load ratio and the number of shear studs on the steel shape were considered as two main parameters. The shear failure mode of short square TSRC columns was observed from the test. The steel tube with diagonal stiffener plates provided effective confinement to the concrete core, while welding shear studs on the steel section appeared not significantly enhancing the seismic behavior of short square TRSC columns. Specimens with higher axial load ratio showed higher lateral stiffness and shear strength but worse ductility. A modified ACI design method is proposed to calculate the nominal shear strength, which agrees well with the test database containing ten short square TSRC columns with shear failure mode from this study and other related literature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.165-176
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• 2021

Existing research on confined concrete filled steel tubular (CCFT) columns has been mainly focused on static or cyclic loading. In this paper, square section CCFT and CFT columns were tested under both static and impact loading, using a 10,000 kN capacity compression test machine and a drop weight testing equipment. Research parameters included bonded and unbonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wraps, with carbon, basalt and glass FRPs (or CFRP, BFRP, and GFRP), respectively. Time history curves for impact force and steel strain observed are discussed in detail. Experimental results show that the failure modes of specimens under impact testing were characterized by local buckling of the steel tube and cracking at the corners, for both CCFT and CFT columns, similar to those under static loading. For both static and impact loading, the FRP wraps could improve the behavior and increase the loading capacity. To analyze the dynamic behavior of the composite columns, a finite element, FE, model was established in LS-DYNA. A simplified method that is compared favorably with test results is also proposed to predict the impact load capacity of square CCFT columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.611-625
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• 2020

Experimental investigation and finite element analysis of corroded cold-formed steel (CFS) columns are presented. 11 tensile coupon specimens and 6 stub columns of corroded CFS that had a channel section of C160x60x20 were subjected to monotonic tensile tests and axial compression tests, respectively. The degradation laws of the mechanical properties of the tensile coupon specimens and stub columns were analysed. An appropriate finite element model for the corroded CFS columns was proposed and the influence of local corrosion on the stability performance of the columns was studied by finite element analysis. Finally, the axial capacity of the experimental results was compared with the predictions obtained from the existing design specifications. The results indicated that with an increasing average thickness loss ratio, the ultimate strength, elastic modulus and yield strength decreased for the tensile coupon specimens. Local buckling deformation was not noticeable until the load reached about 90% of the ultimate load for the non-corroded columns, while local buckling deformation was observed when the load was only 40% of the ultimate load for the corroded columns. The maximum reduction of the ultimate load and critical buckling load was 57% and 81.7%, respectively, compared to those values for the non-corroded columns. The ultimate load of the columns with web thickness reduced by 2 mm was 53% lower than that of the non-corroded columns, which indicates that web corrosion most significantly affects the bearing capacity of the columns with localized corrosion. The results predicted using the design specifications of MOHURD were more accurate than those predicted using the design specifications of AISI.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.793-803
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• 2019

Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) beam-columns are widely used owing to their good performance. They have high strength, ductility, large energy absorption capacity and low costs. Externally stiffened CFST beam-columns are not used widely due to insufficient design equations that consider all parameters affecting their behavior. Therefore, effect of various parameters (global, local slenderness ratio and adding hoop stiffeners) on the behavior of CFST columns is studied. An experimental study that includes twenty seven specimens is conducted to determine the effect of those parameters. Load capacities, vertical deflections, vertical strains and horizontal strains are all recorded for every specimen. Ratio between outer diameter (D) of pipes and thickness (t) is chosen to avoid local buckling according to different limits set by codes for the maximum D/t ratio. The study includes two loading methods on composite sections: steel only and steel with concrete. The case of loading on steel only, occurs in the connection zone, while the other load case occurs in steel beam connecting externally with the steel column wall. Two failure mechanisms of CFST columns are observed: yielding and global buckling. At early loading stages, steel wall in composite specimens dilated more than concrete so no full bond was achieved which weakened strength and stiffness of specimens. Adding stiffeners to the specimens increases the ultimate load by up to 25% due to redistribution of stresses between stiffener and steel column wall. Finally, design equations previously prepared are verified and found to be only applicable for medium and long columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.409-420
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• 2017

This paper theoretically studies the cyclic behavior of hybrid connections between steel coupling beams and concrete shear walls with embedded steel columns. Finite element models of connections with long and short embedded steel columns are built in ABAQUS and validated against the test results in the companion paper. Parametric studies are carried out using the validated FE model to determine the key influencing factors on the load-bearing capacity of connections. A close-form solution of the load-bearing capacity of connections is proposed by considering the contributions from the compressive strength of concrete at the interface between the embedded beam and concrete, shear yielding of column web in the tensile region, and shear capacity of column web and concrete in joint zone. The results show that the bond slip between embedded steel members and concrete should be considered which can be simulated by defining contact boundary conditions. It is found that the loadbearing capacity of connections strongly depends on the section height, flange width and web thickness of the embedded column. The accuracy of the proposed calculation method is validated against test results and also verified against FE results (with differences within 10%). It is recommended that embedded steel columns should be placed along the entire height of shear walls to facilitate construction and enhance the ductility. The thickness and section height of embedded columns should be increased to enhance the load-bearing capacity of connections. The stirrups in the joint zone should be strengthened and embedded columns with very small section height should be avoided.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.223-239
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• 2021

This paper presents the analytical modeling and finite element (FE) analysis, using ABAQUS software, of the new types of steel reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete (SRLAC) columns with cross-shaped (+shaped and X-shaped) steel section, using proposed three analytical and two FE models in total. The stress-strain material models for different components in the columns, including the confined zones of the lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) using three and four concrete zones divisions approaches and with and without taking into account the stirrups reaction effect, are established first. The analytical models for determining the axial load-deformation behavior of the SRLAC columns are drawn based on the materials models. The analytical and FE models' results are compared with previously reported test results of the axially loaded SRLAC columns. The proposed analytical and FE models accurately predict the axial behavior and capacities of the new types of SRLAC columns with acceptable agreements for the load-displacement curves. The LWAC strength, steel section ratio, and steel section configuration affect the contact stress between the concrete and steel sections. The average ratios of the ultimate test load to the three analytical models and FEA model loads, Put /Pa1, Put /Pa2, Put /Pa3, and Put /PFE1, for the tested specimens are 0.96, 1.004, 1.016, and 1.019, respectively. Finally, the analytical parametric studies are also studied, in terms of the effects of confinement, LWAC strength, steel section ratio, and the reinforcement ratio on the axial capacity of the SRLAC column. When concrete strength, confinements, area of steel sections, or reinforcement bars ratio increased, the axial capacities increased.

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