Parametric Study on the Behavior of Steel Tube Columns with Infilled Concrete—An Analytical Study

Abstract

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns are used in tall buildings and bridges, and they provide more rigidity and higher bearing capacity, but buckling affects their behavior. There is an exceptional need to study the behavior of these columns under various conditions. The numerical method is beneficial in supplementing the experimental works and is used to explore the effects of various parameters because of the limitations in cost, apparatus, and time of the experimental program. The various parameters, such as the different slenderness ratios, i.e., column-height-to-cross-section-dimension (H/D), different steel-tube-thickness-to-column-dimension (D/t), and different compressive strength of concrete to yield strength of steel tube ratio (fc/fy) under concentric axial loading are considered in this current study. Firstly, a finite element model used the “ANSYS” software program and was constructed to validate the results of the experimental works. The extensive numerical models were carried out to extensively widen the study in this field. The numerical work was conducted on sixty-four specimens. Moreover, the analytical calculations from the different international codes/standards were compared with the numerical results to test their reliability in predicting the ultimate carrying loads. The study provided results that show the improvement effect of CFST columns with the high compressive strength of infilled concrete, while no remarkable enhancement effect with the high yield strength of steel tube was observed. Increasing the columns’ diameter is more effective in enhancing the load capacity (about three times more) than increasing the tube thickness (about 1.3 times). Ring stiffeners for long CFST columns (H/D > 12) do not lead to any enhancement of the column behavior due to yielding occurring firstly at the location of the rings. ECP205-2007 is the most conservative design code in predicting the load capacity of CFST columns, while the AIJ design code is good at predicting the ultimate load failure compared to the other codes/standards. Eurocode 4 provides underestimation values of the load-carrying capacity of CFST columns.