High strength circular concrete-filled steel tubular slender beam–columns, Part II: Fundamental behavior

There is relatively little experimental and numerical research on the fundamental behavior of high strength circular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) slender beam–columns. In a companion paper, a new numerical model for predicting the nonlinear inelastic behavior of high strength circular CFST slender beam–columns under axial load and bending was presented. The numerical model developed accounts for confinement effects on the strength and ductility of the concrete core and on circular steel tubes as well as initial geometric imperfections of beam–columns. This paper presents the verification of the numerical model and extensive parametric studies on the fundamental behavior of high strength circular CFST slender beam–columns. The ultimate strengths and axial load–deflection responses of circular CFST slender beam–columns under eccentric loading predicted by the numerical model are verified by corresponding experimental results. The computer program implementing the numerical model is used to investigate the fundamental behavior of high strength circular CFST slender beam–columns in terms of load–deflection responses, ultimate strengths, axial load–moment interaction diagrams, and strength increase due to concrete confinement. Parameters examined include column slenderness ratio, eccentricity ratio, concrete compressive strengths, steel yield strengths, steel ratio and concrete confinement. It is demonstrated that the numerical model developed is an efficient computer simulation and design tool for high strength circular CFST slender beam–columns. Benchmark numerical results presented in this paper are valuable in the development of composite design codes for high strength circular CFST slender beam–columns.