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STUDY ON BEHAVIOR OF HIGH-STRENGTH CFT COLUMNS

Takayuki NANBA, Hisaya KAMURA*

ABSRACT: The objective of this study is to elucidate the properties of high-strength CFT columns under
external force. From many results of past research, it is known that the ultimate strength and ductility of
a concrete filled steel tube (CFT) structure increase due to the effect of mutual confinement between the
concrete and the steel tube. CFT structures are adopted in many buildings that use an improved design
method. On the other hand, high-strength materials have been developed to enable construction of more
spacious buildings and reduce manufacturing work. In this study, compressive tests of high strength CFT
columns were carried out to determine their ultimate resistance and to clarify the mechanism of the
confinement effect. Compressive and bending tests were also carried out to demonstrate the high
performance of high strength CFT columns against seismic force. This research clarified the fact that
high strength CFT columns also have excellent structural characteristics, such as ultimate resistance and
deformation capacity.

1 INTRODUCTION
From many results of past research, it is known that the ultimate strength and ductility of a
concrete filled steel tube (CFT) structure increase due to the effect of mutual confinement
between the concrete and the steel tube. CFT technology has gained acceptance in Japan since
the Kobe Earthquake in 1995 because CFT columns were not damaged severely in that disaster.
Although high-strength materials have been developed to enable construction of more spacious
buildings and reduce manufacturing work, the prescriptive design rules for ultra-high strength
CFT are less established due to the lack of a laboratory database. Therefore, this paper examines
the behavior of ultra-high strength CFT in uni-axial compression. A compressive bending test of
high strength CFT columns was also carried out to demonstrate their high performance against
seismic force.

2 SHORT COLUMN COMPRESSIVE TEST

2.1 Experimental Details
Compressive tests on circular high-strength CFT short columns were carried out (Fig. 1) in a
structural testing machine (30 MN loading capacity) at the College of Science & Technology,
Nihon University [3]. Steel tube columns and plain concrete columns were also tested
individually to characterize the behavior of the CFT columns. Table 1 shows a summary of the
specimens with three test parameters: 1) material strength of the steel tube, 2) diameter-thickness
ratio of the steel tube, and 3) diameter of the tube. The specimen height was three times the
diameter. Steel tubes of 550 and 780 N/mm2 strength class were made by cold forming without

*
Takayuki NANBA, Hisaya KAMURA, Civil Engineering Research Department, JFE Steel Corporation,
1-1 Minamiwataridamachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Japan, t-namba@jfe-steel.co.jp
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annealing. The concrete was 100 N/mm2 strength class. The dimensions and mechanical
properties of the specimens and the mechanical properties of the concrete are shown in Table 1
and 2, respectively.

The specimens were loaded statically. The relative displacements between the loading plates
were measured at a position 100 mm from the specimen at intervals of 90° (Fig. 1). The
longitudinal and lateral strain of the surface of the specimen was measured at the upper, middle,
and lower height of the specimen at intervals of 90° using strain gauges (Fig. 2).

Table 1. Specimen list

D t σy σu YR EL σB
No. D/t
(mm) (mm) (N/mm2) (N/mm2) (%) (%) (N/mm2)
CFTC10-III-30 359 12.1 29.6 843 892 94.4 24.2 117
CFTC10-II-23 269 12.1 22.3 839 895 93.8 23.8 117
CFTC10-II-30 269 9.1 29.7 791 852 92.8 22 117
CFT

CFTC10-II-45 269 6.2 43.6 772 835 92.5 17.9 117

CFTC10-I-30 180 6.2 29.2 782 841 93 18.8 117
CFTC11-IV-23 427 18.6 22.9 426 567 75.1 43.7 116
CFTC11-II-23 268 11.6 23.2 458 595 76.9 35.8 116
steel

SC11-IV-23 427 18.6 22.9 426 567 75.1 43.7

tube

－
SC11-II-23 269 11.6 23.2 458 595 76.9 35.8
CC10-III 350 117
concrete

CC10-II 250 117

plain

CC10-I 175 － － － － － － 117

CC11-IV 400 116
CC11-II 250 116
D : diameter, t : thickness of steel tube
σ y : yield stress of steel tube, σ u : ultimate stress, YR: yield ratio, EL: elongation, σ B : concrete strength,

Table 2. Mechanical properties of types of concrete

σB E εu SF testing
series
(N/mm2) (N/mm2) (μ) (cm) piece
10 117 43800 3145 60.5 cylinder
mm mm
11 116 43300 3156 63.5 D :100 H :200
σ B : concrete strength, E : secant modulus
ε u : strain at peak stress, SF : slump flow, H : height

D/2 D/2
Loading
50
H/2

Biaxial
strain
Displacement
gauge
meter
H

Specimen
Specimen

Specimen Displacement Welding seam

meter 45°

100[mm]
*
Figure 1. Test setting and Figure 2. Strain measurement
displacement measurement
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2.2 Test Results
Table 3 shows the CFT test results. The strength of the corresponding concrete short column is also
shown. The results of the steel tube test are presented in the following. The stress-strain curves of
the CFT specimens are shown in Fig. 3. The load on the CFT specimens continued to increase after
exceeding the collapse strain of plain concrete, and the load then decreased gradually after peaking
out. The first peak load is considered to be the maximum load of the specimen, in the case that the
load increases during the post-peak period due to an increase in the loading velocity.

Fig. 4 indicates that a larger steel contribution ratio (Ny/N0) shows a slower lateral strain (εθ)
increase of the CFT. Accordingly, failure of the in-filled concrete is delayed, and higher ductility
and strength are obtained (Fig. 5). In this research, no clear difference was seen among CFT
specimens with different diameters (Fig. 6).

Table 3. CFT test results

No. D t D/t σy σB σB' N 0 N y /N 0 Nm N m /N 0 σ r σ cu
CFTC10-III-30 359 12.1 29.6 843 116 96 21,332 0.52 20,865 0.98 8.1 114
CFTC10-II-23 269 12.1 22.3 839 116 94 13,669 0.60 14,530* 1.06 17.4 135
CFTC10-II-30 269 9.1 29.7 791 116 94 11,593 0.50 11,782* 1.02 8.0 120
CFTC10-II-45 269 6.2 43.6 772 116 94 9,961 0.40 9,294 0.93 5.5 106
CFTC10-I-30 180 6.2 29.2 782 116 95 5,192 0.51 5,267 1.01 12.8 124
CFTC11-IV-23 427 18.6 22.9 426 117 102 24,097 0.42 24,551 1.02 10.7 136
CFTC11-II-23 268 11.6 23.2 458 117 113 9,807 0.44 9,802 1.00 8.5 132
σ B ' : concrete strength of short column (N/mm2), N 0 : calculated strength of CFT (kN), N y : calculated yield load of steel tube (kN)
N m : peak load of CFT (kN), σ r : lateral concrete stress at peak (N/mm2), σ cu : longitudinal concrete stress at peak (N/mm2)
*: first peak load

1.2 0 CFTC10-Ⅲ-30
CFTC10-Ⅱ-23
1 -1000 CFTC10-Ⅱ-30
lateral strain εθ (μ)

CFTC10-Ⅱ-45
load ratio N /N0

0.8 CFTC10-Ⅰ-30
-2000 CFTC11-Ⅳ-23
CFTC10-Ⅲ-30 CFTC11-Ⅱ-23
0.6 CFTC10-Ⅱ-23 -3000
CFTC10-Ⅱ-30
0.4 CFTC10-Ⅱ-45
CFTC10-Ⅰ-30 -4000
0.2 CFTC11-Ⅳ-23 + compression
CFTC11-Ⅱ-23 -5000 - tension
0
0 10000 20000 30000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
longitudinal strain ε z (μ) longitudinal strain ε z (μ)

Figure 3. Results for CFT Figure 4. Lateral strain up to peak load

1.2 1.2
maximum load ratio Nm /N0

maximum load ratio Nm /N0

1.1 1.1

1.0 1.0

0.9 780,D180 780,D270 0.9 780 class steel tube

780,D360 550,D428 550 class steel tube
550,D270
0.8 0.8
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 100 200 300 400 500
tube share of proof strength N y /N 0 Diameter D (mm)

Figure 5. Effect of Ny/N0 on Nm/N0 of CFT Figure 6. Effect of D on Nm/N0 of CFT

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2.3 Behavior of Steel Tube and In-filled Concrete
The longitudinal stress (σz) and lateral stress (σθ) in a steel tube of a CFT column are calculated by
the incremental method [4] until the load acting on the CFT specimens reaches the maximum using
the von Mises yield criterion. With the 780 N/mm2 class steel tube, document [5] is used as a
reference, and Poisson’s ratio ν is considered to be 0.3. The longitudinal stress in concrete (σc) is
calculated by σz and the experimental load on the CFT column. The calculation results are shown in
Fig. 7 to Fig. 13. The behavior of in-filled concrete is similar to that of plain concrete in the range
below the collapse strain of plain concrete. Since concrete starts collapsing partially, σθ occurs as a
reaction to an apparent expansion of the concrete and σc continues to increase. This is called the
confinement effect. σcu-σc* (σc*: σc at occurrence of σr) is proportional to Ny/N0 (Fig. 14). This
relationship is one reason why CFT columns with a large Ny/N0 have a higher peak load than N0.

1000 steel tube test 200 1000 200

concrete stress σc (N/mm2)

concrete stress σc (N/mm2)
CFTC10-III-30 CFTC10-II-23

steel tube stress (N/mm2)

steel tube stress (N/mm2)

800 160 800 160

tube, longitudinal
600 120 600 120
400 infilled concrete 400 80
80
plain concrete test
200 40 200 40
tube, lateral 0 0
0 0
-200 -40 -200 -40
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
longitudinal strain (μ) longitudinal strain (μ)

Figure 7. Analyzed data of CFT test Figure 8. Analyzed data of CFT test

1000 200 1000 200

concrete stress σc (N/mm2)

concrete stress σc (N/mm2)

CFTC10-II-30 CFTC10-II-45
steel tube stress (N/mm2)
steel tube stress (N/mm )
2

800 160 800 160

600 120 600 120
400 80 400 80
200 40 200 40
0 0 0 0
-200 -40 -200 -40
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
longitudinal strain (μ) longitudinal strain (μ)

Figure 9. Analyzed data of CFT test Figure 10. Analyzed data of CFT test
concrete stress σc (N/mm2)

concrete stress σc (N/mm2)

1000 200 1000 200

CFTC10-I-30
steel tube stress (N/mm )

CFTC11-IV-23
steel tube stress (N/mm2)
2

800 160 800 160

600 120 600 120
400 80 400 80
200 40 200 40
0 0 0 0
-200 -40 -200 -40
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
longitudinal strain (μ) longitudinal strain (μ)

Figure 11. Analyzed data of CFT test Figure 12. Analyzed data of CFT test
69
 50 780,D180 780,D270
200

concrete stress cσ (N/mm2)

1000
CFTC11-II-23 780,D360 550,D428
steel tube stress (N/mm2)
800 160 40

stress increment σcu -σc *

550,D270
600 120
30

(N/mm2)
400 80
20
200 40
0 10
0
σc *:σc at occurrence of σr
-200 -40 0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
longitudinal strain (μ) tube share of proof strength N y /N 0

Figure 13. Analyzed data of CFT test Figure 14. Increment of concrete stress

3 COMPRESSIVE BENDING TEST

3.1 Experimental Details

The compressive bending tests on circular high-strength CFT columns were performed within a
structural testing frame, which has a vertical loading capacity of 10 MN and a horizontal loading
capacity of 5 MN, at Fukuyama University [6]. Table 6 shows the details of the CFT column
specimens with 3 test parameters: 1) diameter of the column, 2) diameter-thickness ratio of the
steel tube, and 3) ratio of axial force to resistance. Steel tubes of 550MPa class strength were
made by cold forming without annealing. There were no attachments to the inside of the steel
tubes. Concrete of 100MPa class strength was placed in the steel tubes by drop casting. The ends
of the test columns were reinforced with steel plates resembling outer diaphragms. These plates
and web plates fix the ends of the CFT column as a rigid beam. The specimens are connected to
the testing frame through a rigid beam.
First, a specimen is loaded vertically, and then a cyclic horizontal load is given to the top end
(Fig. 15) following the loading pattern shown in Fig. 16. In specimen CFTC-III-25-7, the vertical
load varied by turns according to the target axial force ratio (n) in Table 6. The bottom of the
specimen was fixed in all directions, and the top of the specimen was free in only the vertical and
horizontal loading directions.

The relative displacements between the two ends of the columns were measured in the vertical
and lateral directions. The local displacement at the column end connected to the rigid beam was
also measured for accuracy of column deformation. The vertical and horizontal loads were
obtained by load cells at the loading points.

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 Table 6. Specimen list
D t σy σu σB eMu cMu eMu eRu cRu
D/t H/D n*
[mm] [mm] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [kN･m] [kN･m] c M u % %
CFTC-IV-34-4 399.3 11.6 34.3 5.3 433 580 108.8 0.38 1,390 1,231 1.13 3.06 3.54
CFTC-IV-25-4 399.2 15.6 25.5 5.3 429 577 107.8 0.39 1,738 1,410 1.23 3.65 3.90

circular
CFTC-III-25-4 300.4 11.7 25.8 5.2 105.0 0.38 756 609 1.24 3.94 3.93
447 585 0.70 429 411 1.04
CFTC-III-25-7 300.4 11.7 25.8 5.2 105.4 1.85 1.82
-0.30 -605 -410 1.48
D : diameter, t: thickness of steel tube, H : height of column
σ y : yield stress of steel tube, σ u : ultimate stress of steel tube, σ B : concrete strength
n : ratio of axis force to capacity, e M u : maximum moment in experiment, c M u : calculated moment resistance
e R u : limit of deformation angle in experiment, c R u : calculated limit of deformation angle
* resistance of only steel tube is taken into account when tension

vertical load
cyclic horizontal load

6.0% 6%
5%
t 4%
deformation amplitude

4.0% increacing by 0.5% to 4%

H

2.0%
1/800 0.5%
D 0.0%
1/400
-2.0%
-4.0%
* 2 cycles in each amplitude on and after 0.5%
-6.0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

Figure 15. Specimen Figure 16. Loading process

3.2 Test Results

The test results are shown in Table 6. In this test, the moment distribution in the columns is anti-
symmetric because of rotational fixing at both ends. The experimental maximum moment (eMu)
is the moment at the end of the column including the P-δ effect. This value is the average of
positive loading and negative loading. The moment resistance (cMu) is calculated according to
the referenced standard [1], using coefficient 1 as the concrete reduction factor. The maximum
moment in this experiment exceeded the calculated resistance in all cases, in spite of the use of
ultra-high strength concrete of 100 MPa (Fig. 17).
The limit of the deformation angle (Ru) means the deformation angle within which the column
can resist up to 95% of maximum horizontal force (Fig. 18). In Japan, the value of the
deformation angle generally must be equal to or greater than 1% so that the whole structure can
absorb huge seismic energy. In all cases, the experimental value (eRu) exceeded 1%. Fig. 18
shows the relationship between eRu and the calculated limit of the deformation angle [2] (cRu).
Data for specimens under similar conditions (σB: 85 to 95 MPa, σy: 285 to 504 MPa) from past
research [7] to [9] are also shown for comparison. Those data display a similar tendency to the
present results. However, cRu tends to give slightly over-estimated results for CFT columns with
high strength material.
71
It is considered that this high structural performance of high strength CFT columns under axial
and bending force was the result of the confinement effect demonstrated in the previous chapter.
1.5
4.0

1 3.0
/ cMu

eRu
CFTC-IV-34-4 2.0
eMu

0.5 CFTC-IV-25-4
1.0
CFTC-III-25-4 Cir.σB: 85 to 95
CFTC-III-25-7 Cir.σB: 105 to 109
0 0.0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
deformation angle R (rad) cR u

Figure 17. Envelope curve Figure 18. Limit of deformation angle

Details of the test results are shown in Fig. 19 to Fig. 22. The upper graph shows the moment-
deformation curve and the lower shows column shrinkage. After the deformation angle exceed
2% and the moment approached its peak, local buckling occurred at the ends of the column and
the shrinkage of the CFT columns accelerated.
2000 2000 max 1,738▼
moment in the column end (kN･m)
moment in the column end (kN･m)

1500 max 1370▼ 1500

cMu 1410
cM u
1000 1000
eRu 3.65%
500 500
eR u 3.06%
0 0
-500 -500
-1000 -1000
c R u 3.54%
-1500 ▲ -1500 cRu 3.90%
min = -1411 min -1,737▲
-2000 -2000
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
deformation angle (rad) deformation angle (rad)
column shrinkage ratio

0.00
column shrinkage ratio

0 min ▼
min▼ ▼max
-0.01 ▼max -0.01

-0.02 -0.02

-0.03 -0.03
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
deformation angle (rad) deformation angle (rad)

Figure 19. Test result (CFTC-IV-34-4) Figure 20. Test result (CFTC-IV-25-4)

72
 2000 2000
moment in the column end (kN･m)

moment in the column end (kN･m)

1500 1500
max 770
1000 1000
▼ eRu 1.85%
cM u ▼max 429
500 500
cMu 411
eR u 3.94%
0 0
-500 -500
▲ ▲min -605
-1000 -1000
min -742 cR u cRu 1.82%
-1500 -1500
-2000 -2000
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
deformation angle (rad) deformation angle (rad)

0.00 min ▼
column shrinkage ratio

column shrinkage ratio

0
▼max
-0.01
-0.01 ▼max
min▼
-0.02 -0.02

-0.03 -0.03
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
deformation angle (rad) deformation angle (rad)

Figure 21. Test result (CFTC-III-25-4) Figure 22. Test result (CFTC-III-25-7)

4 CONCLUSION
The results of an experimental study of the behavior of high strength CFT columns were
presented. The main conclusions may be summarized as follows.

A compressive test of high strength CFT columns was performed. The load on the CFT
specimens increased after exceeding the collapse strain of plain concrete, and the load decreased
gradually after peaking out.
The increment of stress in the in-filled concrete due to constraint by a steel tube, a phenomenon
which is termed the confinement effect, was demonstrated in high strength CFT columns, and
was proportional to the proof strength ratio of the steel tube, this being the ratio of the load
capacity of the steel tube to that of the total CFT.
A compressive bending test of high strength CFT columns was performed. The maximum
moment in the columns under cyclic loading exceeded the calculated superposed resistance. The
deformation limit of the columns reached at least 1% of column height. This high structural
performance of high strength CFT columns under axial and bending force is thought to be caused
by confinement effect.

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