Theoretical study on the confine-stiffening effect and fractal cracking of square concrete filled steel tubes in tension loads

doi:10.1007/s11709-021-0763-3

Front. Struct. Civ. Eng.

2021, Vol. 15

Issue (6) : 1317-1336 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-021-0763-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Theoretical study on the confine-stiffening effect and fractal cracking of square concrete filled steel tubes in tension loads

Meng ZHOU^1,^2,³, Jiaji WANG⁴(

), Jianguo NIE², Qingrui YUE¹

¹. Central Research Institute of Building and Construction Co., Ltd., MCC, Beijing 100088, China
². Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100086, China
³. Zhuhai Institute of Civil Construction-Safety Research Co., Ltd., Zhuhai 519000, China
⁴. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77054, US

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Abstract

Tension stress in steel-concrete composite is widely observed in engineering design. Based on an experimental program on tension performance of three square concrete-filled tubes (SCFT), the tension theory of SCFT is proposed using a mechanics-based approach. The tension stiffening effect, the confining strengthening effect and the confining stiffening effect, observed in tests of SCFTs are included in the developed tension theory model. Subsequently, simplified constitutive models of steel and concrete are proposed for the axial tension performance of SCFT. Based on the MSC.MARC software, a special fiber beam-column element is proposed to include the confining effect of SCFTs under tension and verified. The proposed analytical theory, effective formulas, and equivalent constitutive laws are extensively verified against three available tests reported in the literature on both global level (e.g., load-displacement curves) and strain level. The experimental verification proves the accuracy of the proposed theory and formulations in simulating the performance of SCFT members under tension with the capability to accurately predict the tensile strength and stiffness enhancements and realistically simulate the fractal cracking phenomenon.

Keywords square concrete filled tubes confine-stiffening confine-strengthening fractal cracking fracture

Corresponding Author(s): Jiaji WANG

Just Accepted Date: 29 October 2021 Online First Date: 07 December 2021 Issue Date: 21 January 2022

Cite this article:

Meng ZHOU,Jiaji WANG,Jianguo NIE, et al. Theoretical study on the confine-stiffening effect and fractal cracking of square concrete filled steel tubes in tension loads[J]. Front. Struct. Civ. Eng., 2021, 15(6): 1317-1336.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fsce/EN/10.1007/s11709-021-0763-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fsce/EN/Y2021/V15/I6/1317

Fig.1 Schematic plot of tension loads in SCFTs in bridges and high-rise buildings [6]. (a) Long-span suspension bridge; (b) high-rise building. (Reprinted from Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 121, Zhou M, Fan J S, Tao M X, Nie J G, Experimental study on the tensile behavior of square concrete-filled steel tubes, 202–215, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.)

Fig.2 Recently experimentally observed strength enhancement, stiffness enhancement, and fractal cracking phenomena of tensile SCFT members as reported by Ref. [6]. (a) Observed stiffness enhancements; (b) observed fractal cracking phenomenon. (Reprinted from Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 121, Zhou M, Fan J S, Tao M X, Nie J G, Experimental study on the tensile behavior of square concrete-filled steel tubes, 202–215, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.)

Fig.3 Schematic plot of the stress and strain of tension SCFT members [6]. (Reprinted from Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 121, Zhou M, Fan J S, Tao M X, Nie J G, Experimental study on the tensile behavior of square concrete-filled steel tubes, 202–215, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.)

Fig.4 Proposed equivalent uniaxial constitutive law of concrete for SCFTs under tension.

Fig.5 Initial cracking strain with various SCFT design.

Fig.6 Discussion of the cracking strain.

Fig.7 Discussion of the initial transverse strain to longitudinal strain ratio R₀.

Fig.8 Validation of theory and simplified formula for the transverse strain to longitudinal strain ratio R. (a) Specimen ST-200-6; (b) Specimen ST-200-3; (c) Specimen ST-100-3.

Fig.9 Experimental observation of the fractal cracking of the concrete core in tensile tests of SCFTs [6]. (Reprinted from Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 121, Zhou M, Fan J S, Tao M X, Nie J G, Experimental study on the tensile behavior of square concrete-filled steel tubes, 202–215, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.)

Fig.10 Determination of cracks of different levels in the fractal cracking of SCFTs in tension.

Fig.11 Discussion of the relationship between the crack spacings of (i-1)th-level and ith-level cracks. (a) N = 2; (b) N = 3; (c) N = 4.

Fig.12 Determination of the relationship between the crack spacings of (i?1)th-level andith-level cracks. (a) Three cases; (b) Case 1; (c) Case 2; (d) Case 3.

Fig.13 Experimental, analytical, and FEA results of the tension force-average longitudinal strain curves of the tests conducted by Zhou et al. [6] (longitudinal strain between 0 and 0.01). (a) ST-200-6; (b) ST-200-3; (c) ST-100-3.

Fig.14 Experimental and FEA results of the tension force-axial strain curves of the tests conducted by Zhou et al. [6] (full curve). (a) ST-200-6; (b) ST-200-3; (c) ST-100-3.

literature	specimen	α_strength (EXP)	α_strength (FEA)	$α strength (FEA) α strength (EXP)$	α_stifness (EXP)	α_stifness (FEA)	$α strength (FEA) α strength (EXP)$
Zhou et al. [6]	ST-200-6	1.027	1.105	1.076	1.268	1.108	0.874
	ST-200-3	1.083	1.110	1.025	1.314	1.171	0.891
	ST-100-3	1.047	1.105	1.055	1.371	1.108	0.808
	mean	1.052	1.107	1.052	1.318	1.129	0.858
	standard error	–	–	0.026	–	–	0.044

Tab.1 Comparison between test results and FEA results of strength and stiffness of RCFT

Fig.15 Experimental, analytical, and FEA results of the transverse strain to longitudinal strain ratio R-tensile force curves of the test conducted by Zhou et al. [6]. (a) ST-200-6; (b) ST-200-3; (c) ST-100-3.

Fig.16 Experimental and FEA results of the fractal coefficient N of specimens reported by Zhou et al. [6]. (a) ST-200-6; (b) ST-200-3; (c) ST-100-3.

Fig.17 Experimental and FEA results of the crack distribution of specimen T-200-6 [6]. (a) Test results of crack distribution of Specimen ST-200-6; (b) section discretization; (c) load = 406 kN, displacement = 0.67 mm, prior to second cracking; (d) load = 786 kN, displacement = 1.42 mm, Prior to third level crack; (e) load = 1336 kN, displacement = 2.5 mm, before fourth level crack. (Reprinted from Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 121, Zhou M, Fan J S, Tao M X, Nie J G, Experimental study on the tensile behavior of square concrete-filled steel tubes, 202–215, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier.)

Fig.18 Influence of fractal crack on FE prediction results of the crack width-load curves of test specimens. (a) ST-200-6 full curve; (b) ST-200-3 full curve; (c) ST-100-3 full curve; (d) ST200-6 part curve; (e) ST-200-3 part curve; (f) ST-100-3 part curve.

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