Performance of concrete-filled stainless steel tubes subjected to tension: Experimental investigation

Abstract

Abstract Concrete-filled stainless steel tubular (CFSST) structures have attracted increasing attention from researchers and engineers in the past decade. CFSST members can be adopted as columns in buildings or chord members in trusses, which could be subjected to tension under some circumstances. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the mechanical behavior of concentrically and eccentrically loaded CFSST tensile members. The parameters considered in the tests included the steel type (stainless steel or carbon steel), load eccentricity (e = 0–75 mm), steel ratio of the cross section (α = 0.075 or 0.112), concrete strength (fcu = 53.4 MPa or 84.7 MPa), and steel-concrete interfacial condition (lubricated or not). The test results show the concrete infill effectively works with the outer stainless steel tube, leading to tensile strength and stiffness higher than those of the corresponding hollow stainless steel tube. All the CFSST tensile members show ductile behavior and the end rotation of the eccentrically loaded members exceeds 0.1 rad. Finally, the feasibility of existing design method to predict the tensile strength of CFSST members was also evaluated.