Axial compressive behavior of multi-celled corrugated-plate CFST walls: Tests and numerical simulations

Abstract

In recent years, steel-concrete composite walls have been widely used in practical engineering, primarily attributed to their exceptional properties. This paper proposed a novel type of composite wall called the multi-celled corrugated-plate concrete-filled steel tubular (MC-CFST) wall, which consisted of corrugated cells and interval flat plates connected alternately. Axial compression tests involving 14 MC-CFST wall specimens were performed to investigate their compressive resistant behavior. According to the test results, the steel and concrete showed good composite action. It was found that all specimens exhibited ductile failure with residual resistance-to-ultimate resistance ratios varying within the range of 0.503 to 0.672. Local buckling occurred in the interval flat plates, corrugated steel plates, and boundary flat plates. In addition, a finite element (FE) model was established and validated. The results showed that the vertical normal stress of concrete in the trough section was obviously enhanced, and the load-bearing capacity of the MC-CFST wall was primarily carried by the concrete. Moreover, a parametric analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of geometric dimensions and material strengths. The numerical results were then compared with the calculation results of existing codes. It was found that the design formulas in existing codes could not accurately calculate the load-bearing capacity of the MC-CFST wall. Finally, a design formula with good prediction accuracy was suggested, which could be used to predict the ultimate resistance of the MC-CFST wall.