Strength and Axial Behavior of Cellular Lightweight Concrete-Filled Steel Rectangular Tube Columns under Axial Compression

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental results on the strength and axial behavior of rectangular steel tube columns filled with cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) under axial compression. A total of 24 specimens, including 6 reinforced cellular lightweight concrete (RCLC) columns and 18 cellular lightweight concrete-filled steel tube (CLCFT) columns are investigated. The nominal dimension of the rectangular columns are 150×75 mm in cross-section and 750 mm in height. The parameter used in all tests are the ultimate compressive strengths of the CLC, which are 15 MPa, 20 MPa and 25 MPa, and the wall thicknesses of steel tubes, which are 3.0 mm, 4.5 mm and 6.0 mm. All specimens are prepared and loaded concentrically in axial compression to failure. The results of these tests demonstrated that the CLCFT columns have a linear behavior up to the approximately 80-90% of their maximum compressive load. Then, the behavior of the columns is nonlinear. The nonlinear behaviors are due to the crushing of the concrete core and local wall buckling of the steel hollow tube. In addition, it is found that the CLCFT columns have high axial deformability at the failure when compared to the reference RCLC columns. Finally, by comparing the maximum compressive load of the test results with those obtained from the ACI composite design equation, the comparison results show that calculation formula in ACI code can be applied to compute the axial capacity of CLCFT columns under axial compression.