Comparative impact behaviours of ultra high performance concrete columns reinforced with polypropylene vs steel fibres

Polypropylene(PP) fibres have primarily used to control shrinkage cracks or mitigate explosive spalling in concrete structures exposed to fire or subjected to impact/blast loads, with limited investigations on capacity improvement. This study unveils the possibility of using PP micro-fibres to improve the impact behaviour of fibre-reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete(FRUHPC) columns. Results show that the addition of fibres significantly improves the impact behaviour of FRUHPC columns by shifting the failure mechanism from brittle shear to favourable flexural failure. The addition of steel or PP fibres affected the impact responses differently. Steel fibres considerably increased the peak impact force(up to 18%) while PP micro-fibres slightly increased the peak(3%-4%). FRUHPC significantly reduced the maximum midheight displacement by up to 30%(under 20°impact) and substantially improved the displacement recovery by up to 100%(under 20° impact). FRUHPC with steel fibres significantly improved the energy absorption while those with PP micro-fibres reduced the energy absorption, which is different from the effect of PP-macro fibre reported in the literature. The optimal fibre content for micro-PP fibres is 1% due to its minimal fibre usage and low peak and residual displacement. This study highlights the potential of FRUHPC as a promising material for impact-resistant structures by creating a more favourable flexural failure mechanism, enhancing ductility and toughness under impact loading, and advancing the understanding of the role of fibres in structural performance.

Experimental and Numerical Studies on Sea Sand Concrete Filled Stainless Steel Tube with Inner FRP Tube Subjected to Axial Compression

Since fibre-reinforced polymer(FRP) and stainless steel(SS) offer advantages of corrosion resistance and hybrid confinement, this study proposed a new type of composite column: sea sand concrete(SSC)-filled SS tubular columns with an inner FRP tube(CFSTFs) to help exploit abundant ocean resources in marine engineering. To study compressive behaviours of these novel members, eight CFSTFs and two SSC-filled SS tubular columns(CFSTs)were tested under axial compression. Their axial load-displacement curves, axial load-strain curves in SS or FRP tubes were obtained, and influences of key test parameters(the existence of glass FRP(GFRP) tubes, steel tube shapes, and GFRP tube thicknesses and diameters) were discussed. Further, specimen failure mechanism was analyzed employing the finite element method using ABAQUS software. Test results confirmed the excellent ductility and load-bearing capacity of CFSTFs. The existence of GFRP tubes inside can postpone SS tube buckling, and the content of inner FRP tubes, particularly increasing diameters, was found to improve compressive behaviours. GFRP contents helped develop the second elastic-plastic stage of the load-displacement curves. Furthermore, the bearing capacity of CFSTFs with a circular cross-section was approximately 26% higher than that with a square cross-section, and this difference narrowed with the increase in GFRP ratios.

Research on seismic performance of shear walls with concrete filled steel tube columns and concealed steel trusses

In order to further improve the seismic performance of RC shear walls, a new composite shear wall with concrete filled steel tube （CFT） columns and concealed steel trusses is proposed. This new shear wall is a double composite shear wall; the first composite being the use of three different force systems, CFT, steel truss and shear wall, and the second the use of two different materials, steel and concrete. Three 1/5 scaled experimental specimens： a traditional RC shear wall, a shear wall with CFT columns, and a shear wall with CFT columns and concealed steel trusses, were tested under cyclic loading and the seismic performance indices of the shear walls were comparatively analyzed. Based on the data from these experiments, a thorough elastic-plastic finite element analysis and parametric analysis of the new shear walls were carried out using ABAQUS software. The finite element results of deformation, stress distribution, and the evolution of cracks in each phase were compared with the experimental results and showed good agreement. A mechanical model was also established for calculating the load-carrying capacity of the new composite shear walls. The results show that this new type of shear wall has improved seismic performance over the other two types of shear wails tested.

Behavior of High Strength Concrete Filled Square Steel Tube Stub Columns with Inner CFRP Tube Under Biaxial Eccentric Compression

This paper studies the contribution of CFRP(carbon fiber-reinforced polymer)to the mechanical behavior of high strength concrete-filled square steel tube(HCFST)under biaxial eccentric compression.The new type of composite member is composed of an inner CFRP tube and an outer steel tube with concrete filled in the two tubes.The finite element analysis was made by ABAQUS on the behavior of high strength concrete filled square steel tubular columns with inner CFRP circular tube subjected to bi-axial eccentric loading.The results obtained from the finite element analysis were verified with the experimental results.In addition,the load-deflection curves in the whole process were calculated and analyzed,which can be divided into three segments:Elastic phase,plastic phase,descending phase.Based on the load-deflection curves,the stresses analysis on the core concrete,CFRP tube and steel tube were conducted.The confinement effect of the CFRP tube improves the ductility of HCFST-CFRP stub column.CFRP ratio and eccentricity affect the ultimate bearing capacity of HCFST stub column.Finally,a calculation formula of ultimate bearing capacity was proposed in the paper.

Experimental Behavior of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Filled Steel Tubular Columns

During the modernization or rehabilitation activity,the demolished structural waste causes large soil pollution and unavailability of natural aggregate is the big concern for the construction industry.Therefore,this manuscript deals with the Composite Steel Circular Column(CSCC)with Recycled Aggregate concrete(RAC)as infill is partly used,with the replacement of 25%and 50%in M30 grade of Concrete.And internal reinforcement steel is fully replaced by rolled steel tubes(circular and square)with varied thickness,ISA-unequal angle.Around 14 specimens are cast and examined under axial load for analysis of the deflection characteristics,the load-bearing capacity along with its buckling behavior.The experimental values are estimated through LVDT(linear variable differential transducer)at 3-phase.The curve of load-deflection is drawn with the load pattern.From the date interpretation,it is found column made of 50%-RAC has more than 25%-RAC.

Seismic performance of recycled concrete-filled square steel tube columns

An experimental study on the seismic performance of recycled concrete-filled square steel tube （RCFST） columns is carried out. Six specimens were designed and tested under constant axial compression and cyclic lateral loading. Two parameters, replacement percentage of recycled coarse aggregate （RCA） and axial compression level, were considered in the test. Based on the experimental data, the hysteretic loops, skeleton curves, ductility, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation of RCFST columns were analyzed. The test results indicate that the failure modes of RCFST columns are the local buckling of the steel tube at the bottom of the columns, and the hysteretic loops are full and their shapes are similar to normal CFST columns. Furthermore, the ductility coefficient of all specimens are close to 3.0, and the equivalent viscous damping coefficient corresponding to the ultimate lateral load ranges from 0.323 to 0.360, which demonstrates that RCFST columns exhibit remarkable seismic performance.

Damage assessment for seismic response of recycled concrete filled steel tube columns

A model for evaluating structural damage of recycled aggregate concrete filled steel tube （RCFST） columns under seismic effects is proposed in this paper. The proposed model takes the lateral deformation and the effect of repeated cyclic loading into account. Available test results were collected and utilized to calibrate the parameters of the proposed model. A seismic test for six RCFST columns was also performed to validate the proposed damage assessment model. The main test parameters were the recycled coarse aggregate （RCA） replacement percentage and the bond-slip property. The test results indicated that the seismic performance of the RCFST member depends on the RCA contents and their damage index increases as the RCA replacement percentage increases. It is also indicated that the damage degree of RCFST changes with the variation of the RCA replacement percentage. Finally, comparisons between the RCA contents, lateral deformation ratio and damage degree were implemented. It is suggested that an improvement procedure should be implemented in order to compensate for the performance difference between the RCFST and normal concrete filled steel tubes （CFST）.

Experimental investigation of axially loaded steel fiber reinforced high strength concrete-filled steel tube columns

An experimental study on the compressive behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete-filled steel tube columns is presented. Specimens were tested to investigate the effects of the concrete strength, the thickness of steel tube and the steel fiber volume fraction on the ultimate strength and the ductility. The experimental results indicate that the addition of steel fibers in concrete can significantly improve the ductility and the energy dissipation capacity of the concrete-filled steel tube columns and delay the local buckling of the steel tube, but has no obvious effect on the failure mode. It has also been found that the addition of steel fibers is a more effective method than using thicker steel tube in enhancing the ductility, and more advantageous in the case of higher strength concrete. An analytical model to estimate the load capacity is proposed for steel tube columns filled with both plain concrete and steel fiber reinforced concrete. The predicted results are in good agreement with the experimental ones obtained in this work and literatures.

Axial Compression Behavior and Analytical Method of L-Shaped Column Composed of Concrete-Filled Square Steel Tubes

Based on the characteristics of an L-shaped column composed of concrete-filled square steel tubes, the axial compression experiment and nonlinear finite element analysis were carried out to study the mechanical property of the L-shaped column. The load-displacement curve for the L-shaped column, the deflection and load-strain curves for the mono columns were obtained by the axial compression experiment. The results show that the L-shaped column exhibits a flexural-torsional buckling failure mode. The numerical simulation by the finite element analysis shows that the bearing capacity and failure mode are in accordance with those of the axial compression experiment and the feasi- bility of the finite element analysis is proved. For the calculation of the bearing capacity of the L-shaped column com- posed of concrete-filled square steel tubes, an analytical method is proposed based on the theory of the elastic stability and spatial truss model. The results of the analytical method are in good agreement with those of the axial compression experiment and the finite element analysis.

Seismic behavior of large-scale FRP–recycled aggregate concrete–steel columns with shear connectors

The application of fi ber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for the development of high-performance composite structural systems has received signifi cant recent research attention. A composite of FRP–recycled aggregate concrete (RAC)–steel column (FRSC), consisting of an outer FRP tube, an inner steel tube and annular RAC fi lled between two tubes, is proposed herein to facilitate green disposal of demolished concrete and to improve the ductility of concrete columns for earthquake resistance. To better understand the seismic behavior of FRSCs, quasi-static tests of large-scale basalt FRSCs with shear connectors were conducted. The infl uence of the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement percentage, shear connectors and axial loading method on the lateral load and deformation capacity, energy dissipation and cumulative damage were analyzed to evaluate the seismic behavior of FRSCs. The test results show that FRSCs have good seismic behavior, which was evidenced by high lateral loads, excellent ductility and energy dissipation capacity, indicating RAC is applicable in FRSCs. Shear connectors can signifi cantly postpone the steel buckling and increase the lateral loads of FRSCs, but weaken the deformation capacity and energy dissipation performance.

Bearing capacity of composite columns reinforced by concrete filled steel tube

In this study, nine simplified short composite columns consisting of core CFST (concrete filled steel tube) of different diameters and outer reinforced concrete were constructed to study their compressive performance under axial or eccentric compression. The failure mode is characterized by the crush of the outer concrete. The bearing capacity increases at first and then decreases with further increase of the position coefficient. It can be concluded that position coefficient is an important structural parameter that has considerable influences on the ultimate bearing capacity of the composite columns. The outer concrete, steel tubes and longitudinal reinforcement are found to work in a cooperative manner under axial or eccentric compression when the position coefficient is about 0.5. An improved bearing capacity algorithm that takes the position coefficient into account has been proposed based on the experimental and simulation results and current technical specification in China. It has been proven to be precise and safe.

Experimental research on mechanical properties of prestressed truss concrete composite beam encased with circular steel tube

Tests of 4 simply supported unbonded prestressed truss concrete composite beams encased with circular steel tube were carried out. It is found that the ratio of the stress increment of the unbonded tendon to that of the tensile steel tube is 0.252 during the using stage,and the average crack space of beams depends on the ratio of the sum of the bottom chord steel tube's outside diameter and the secondary bottom chord steel tube's section area to the effective tensile concrete area. The coefficient of uneven crack distribution is 1.68 and the formula for the calculation of crack width is established. Test results indicate that the ultimate stress increment of unbonded tendon in the beams decreases in linearity with the increase of the composite reinforcement index β0. The pure bending region of beams accords with the plane section assumption from loading to failure. The calculation formula of ultimate stress increment of the unbonded tendon and the method to calculate the bearing capacity of normal section of beams have been presented. Besides,the method to calculate the stiffness of this sort of beams is brought forward as well.

Three-dimensional nonlinear analysis of creep in concrete filled steel tube columns

This paper proposes a based on 3D-VLE （three-dimensional nonlinear viscoelastic theory） three-parameters viscoelastic model for studying the time-dependent behaviour of concrete filled steel tube （CFT） columns. The method of 3D-VLE was developed to analyze the effects of concrete creep behavior on CFT structures. After the evaluation of the parameters in the proposed creep model, experimental measurements of two prestressed reinforced concrete beams were used to investigate the creep phenomenon of three CFT columns under long-term axial and eccentric load was investigated. The experimentally obtained time-dependent creep behaviour accorded well with the cu~＇es obtained from the proposed method. Many factors （such as ratio of long-term load to strength, slenderness ratio, steel ratio, and eccentricity ratio） were considered to obtain the regularity of influence of concrete creep on CFT structures. The analytical results can be consulted in the engineering practice and design.

Performance Investigation of Square Concrete-filled Steel Tube Columns

The behaviour of square concrete-filled steel tube columns under concentrical loading was studied. More than one hundred specimens were tested to investigate the effects of thickness of steel tube on the load carrying capacity of the concrete-filled tubular columns （CFTs）. The effect of the grade of concrete and content of expansive agent were also investigated. The effect of these parameters on the confinement of the concrete core was studied as well. From the experimental study it was found that for both CFTs with different strength grade concrete core, the ultimate load carrying capacity increases with the increase in percentage of expansive agent up to 20% but it again decreases at 25% of expansive agent content. It was also shown that the failure mode of CFTs depends on the strength grade of concrete core.

Expansive Performance of Self-stressing and Self-compacting Concrete Confined with Steel Tube

Combining with the technology of self-compacting concrete, self-stressing concrete and concrete-filled steel tube, we can get self-compacting and self-stressing concrete-filled steel tube. In order to study the expansive mechanism of self-stressing concrete, the continuous observation of 47 days on six specimens was carried on. The specimens have different steel area to concrete area ratio. The expansive process in hoop and axial direction were studied, and the expansive mechanism was discussed too. The experimental results identify that the creep and elastic deformation take a large proportion in effective free expansion. The calculating formulas of self-stress in hoop and axial directions were presented here.

Reliability analysis of circular concrete-filled steel tube with material and geometrical nonlinearity

Most of the previous research on concrete-filled steel tube is restricted to a deterministic approach. To gain clear insight into the random properties of circular concrete-filled steel tube, reliability analysis is carried out in the present study. To obtain the Structural nonlinear response and ultimate resistance capacity, material and geometrical nonlinear analysis of circular concrete-filled steel tube is performed with a three-dimensional degenerated beam ele- ment. Then we investigate the reliability of concrete-filled steel tube using the first-order reliability method combined with nonlinear finite element analysis. The influences of such parameters as material strength, slenderness, initial geo- metrical imperfection, etc. on the reliability of circular concrete-filled steel tube column are studied. It can be con- cluded that inevitable random fluctuation of those parameters has significant influence on structural reliability, and that stochastic or reliability methods can provide a more rational and subjective evaluation on the safety of CFT structures than a deterministic approach.

Ductility and Ultimate Capacity of Concrete-Filled Lattice Rectangular Steel Tube Columns

A kind of concrete-filled lattice rectangular steel tube(CFLRST)column was put forward.The numerical simulation was modeled to analyze the mechanical characteristic of CFLRST column.By comparing the load-deformation curves from the test results,the rationality and reliability of the finite element model has been confirmed,moreover,the change of the section stiffness and stress in the forcing process and the ultimate bearing capacity of the column were analyzed.Based on the model,the comparison of ultimate bearing capacity and ductility between CFLRST column and reinforced concrete(RC)column were also analyzed.The results of the finite element analysis show that the loading process of CFLRST column consists of elastic stage,yield stage and failure stage.The failure modes are mainly strength failure and failure of elastoplastic instability.CFLRST column has higher bearing capacities in comparison with reinforced concrete columns with the same steel ratio.In addition,the stiffness degeneration of CFLRST column is slower than RC column and CFLRST column has good ductility.

Static behavior of semi-rigid thin-walled steel-concrete composite beam-to-column joints with bolted partial-depth flush end plate:experimental study

A new type of semi-rigid thin-walled steel-concrete composite beam-to-column joint has been proposed in this paper.Five semi-rigid composite beam-to-column joint specimens subjected to hogging moments under monotonic loading were tested to study the static behavior of this new type of joint.The main variable parameters for the five joint specimens were the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the joint type.The experimental results designated that the magnitude of extension of the longitudinal reinforcement is the most important factor that influenced the moment-rotation characteristic of the new type of joint.The concrete slabs could resist 3.8%-19.1% of the total shear load applied to the cross-sections near the beam-to-column connection.The edge stiffened elements,such as the flange of the lipped I-section thin-walled steel beam,were capable of having considerable inelastic deformation capacity although they had comparatively large width-to-thickness ratios.The shear failure of the concrete cantilever edge strip must be taken into account in practical design because it has significant influence on the anchorage of the longitudinal reinforcement in the new type of external joints.

Seismic strengthening of reinforced concrete columns damaged by rebar corrosion using combined CFRP and steel jacket

In order to study the effectiveness of combined carbon fiber-reinforced polymer （CFRP） sheets and steel jacket in strengthening the seismic performance of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete （RC） columns, twelve reinforced concrete columns are tested under combined lateral cyclic displacement excursions and constant axial load. The variables studied in this program include effects of corrosion degree of the rebars, level of axial load, the amount of CFRP sheets and steel jacket. The results indicate that the combined CFRP and steel jacket retrofitting technique is effective in improving load-carrying, ductility and energy absorption capacity of the columns. Compared with the corrosion-damaged RC column, the lateral load and the ductility factor of many strengthened columns increase more than 90% and 100%, respectively. The formulae for the calculation of the yielding load, the maximum lateral load and the displacement ductility factor of the strengthened columns under combined constant axial load and cyclically increasing lateral loading are developed. The test results are also compared with the results obtained from the proposed formulae. A good agreement between calculated values and experimental results is observed.

Dynamic performance of angle-steel concrete columns under low cyclic loading-I:Experimental study

This paper describes low cyclic loading testing of nine angle-steel concrete column （ASCC） specimens. In the tests, the influence of the shear-span ratio, axial compression ratio and shear steel plate ratio on the hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation, strength degradation, stiffness degradation, skeleton curve and ductility of the ASCCs is studied. Based on the test results, some conclusions are presented. The P-A and sectional M -φ hysteretic models for the ASCCs are presented in a companion paper （Zheng and Ji, 2008）.