Experimental study of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular stub columns with circular and square cross-sections subjected to combined compression and bending

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study into the structural behaviour and strength of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular stub columns with circular and square cross-sections subjected to combined compression and bending moment. A total of sixteen concrete-filled stainless steel tubular (CFSST) stub columns were tested, including two section types (circular and square hollow sections), two grades of concrete infill (C30 and C60), two thicknesses of tube wall for each cross-section (6 and 10 mm), and five loading eccentricity ratios (0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5). The CFSST stub column specimens were loaded in compression, with different loading eccentricities applied to achieve a wide range of axial load-to-bending moment ratios. This research provides a comprehensive report on the experimental methodology and subsequent observations, including the failure modes, load-deformation curves, axial load-bending moment curves, strain development at the key locations and values of ductility index. It can be observed that for circular CFSST columns, ultimate load decreased by roughly 70% with an increase in loading eccentricity ratios from 0 to 0.5, while for square columns, the reduction was about 50% under same conditions. The experimental results were used to evaluate if the existing design provisions for carbon steel-concrete composite structures is capable of designing the investigated CFSST stub columns. It was found that the mean ultimate load to predicted failure load ratios are 1.25, 1.32, and 1.36, with coefficients of variations (COV) equal to 0.08, 0.09 and 0.11, for the European, American, and Chinese codes, respectively. Consequently, the design approach specified in the Chinese code led to the most conservative and scattered strength predictions among the three codified design approaches. In contrast, the European code provides the most precise predictions of the test results, though there still remains scope for improvements in the ultimate resistance predictions of CFSST stub columns subjected to combined compression and bending.