Analysis of circular concrete-filled double skin tubular slender columns with external stainless steel tubes

Abstract

This paper investigates the strength and behaviour of concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) slender columns under axial compression. The lean duplex stainless steel material (EN 1.4162) which has recently gained significant attention is considered herein as the external jacket of such columns. Finite element (FE) analyses of several CFDST columns are conducted. Careful consideration is taken in the modelling for the concrete behaviour, for which both of the compressive and the tensile behaviours and the non-linear behaviour due to cracking are fully considered. The accuracy of the current FE models is ensured through the comparison with the existing columns in literature. A parametric study is then conducted to investigate the behaviour of such columns under different affecting factors; the slenderness ratio, the concrete confinement effect, the hollow ratio, the concrete compressive strength and the thickness ratio. The behavioural differences between intermediate length and very long CFDST columns are carefully addressed. Analytically obtained ultimate strengths are compared with design strengths calculated by European and American specifications. European design strength is found to give better predictions compared to the American specifications. However, it is shown that both strengths cannot be used in design because they overestimate the ultimate strengths and thereby do not satisfy the safety requirements. Therefore, a modification is suggested to the European design model which is shown to be able to estimate the compressive resistance of the CFDST columns more accurately than other methods.