Compression behavior of GFRP–coal gangue concrete–steel tubular columns

Abstract

The coal gangue has been proposed to replace the aggregate in concrete to reduce the construction cost and environmental condition. The glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)–coal gangue concrete (GC)–steel (GGCS) tubular columns consist of concrete, which can provide a possible way to use coal gangue. To investigate the compressive behavior of GGCS columns, the experimental work is conducted. The failure behavior is analyzed through experimental results. Then, a finite element model is proposed to predict the compression capacity of GGCS columns. The influences of concrete type, hollow rate ρ, and the thickness of steel and GFRP tubes on the loading capacity of GGCS columns are investigated through experiment and numerical analysis. Parametrical analysis is performed to reveal the confinement effect of GFRP tube. The conclusions in this work indicate that GC can replace ordinary concrete without sacrificing the loading capacity. The confinement effect of GFRP tube and steel tube is systematically investigated through parametrical analysis.