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Finite Element Modelling of Short Steel Tubes Filled With Rubberized Concrete, 2016 (a.P.C. Duarte, J.M. Castro)
Finite Element Modelling of Short Steel Tubes Filled With Rubberized Concrete, 2016 (a.P.C. Duarte, J.M. Castro)
Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This paper presents a numerical investigation on the ductility and strength of short steel tubes filled with
Received 8 January 2016 Rubberized Concrete (RuC), which is a composite material that mixes concrete with rubber particles. This
Revised 11 April 2016 research concerns the enhancement of both ductility and energy absorption of CFST by considering a core
Accepted 25 April 2016
of RuC instead of normal concrete (NC). First, a brief literature review on the topic is presented. Then,
Available online 27 April 2016
based on an experimental programme conducted by the authors, numerical models of CFST and
RuCFST columns are developed. The results of non-linear analyses (ultimate strengths, load-shortening
Keywords:
curves and failure modes) are validated using experimental data, and good agreement is shown.
Rubberized Concrete (RuC)
Concrete Filled Steel Tubes (CFST)
Finally, a numerical study on the properties of confined NC and RuC is conducted. It is concluded that
Finite elements the concrete damaged plasticity model can be used to simulate RuC. The dilation angle plays a key role
Ductility in RuC and its lower value (compared to that of NC) influences the concrete confinement. Taking into
Confinement account the RuC dilation angle, steel yield stress and tube local slenderness, a new formula is proposed
to predict the concrete core confinement of the studied CFST and RuCFST columns with circular sections.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2016.04.048
0263-8223/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40 29
Concrete Filled Steel Tubes (CFST) are one of the most successful particles and concrete matrix with the latter presenting crack ini-
composite structural solutions available in the construction indus- tiation and propagation. Taking into account the previous asser-
try. In fact, in CFST columns, the steel tube acts as formwork and tions, the study described in the present paper intends to provide
provides confinement to the concrete core, improving its strength a numerically study of RuC properties, but now at a structural level
and ductility, whereas the concrete core reduces the steel tube sen- and within the context of CFST columns. In particular, one of the
sitivity to local buckling. In case of thin (and very thin) steel tubes, objectives is to assess if the concrete damaged plasticity model,
the susceptibility to local buckling increases and, consequently, the usually employed for standard concrete simulations, can be
ductility of the tube decreases and its ability to dissipate energy extended to the simulation of RuC. Firstly, the development of
from dynamic actions also decreases [5–7]. Therefore, if thin- the numerical models of the circular, square and rectangular CFST
walled steel tubes are used in CFST solutions, particular attention and RuCFST tested columns [8] is described in detail, with special
should be paid to their ductility, a mandatory requirement for attention given to the modelling aspects of the concrete mixes
structures located in seismic areas. In this scope, to increase the (NC and RuCs). Then, the numerical models are validated by com-
CFST column’s ductility, by increasing the ductility of its concrete paring the numerical and experimental collapse strengths, com-
core, would have clear advantages, and this can be achieved by pressive load-axial shortening curves and collapse configurations.
replacing NC with RuC. In reality, this replacement has two major Finally, as the numerical models show good agreement with the
benefits: experimental tests, an analysis of the behaviour of confined stan-
dard and Rubberized Concrete is made and conclusions are drawn.
The drop of RuC strength, in comparison to NC, must be lower if
concrete is confined. Thus, the strength decrease of confined 2. Description of numerical models
RuC (in parallel to NC) shall not be as severe as in the uncon-
fined case. In this section, the numerical models of the short columns
The gain in energy absorption must be higher when using RuC tested by Duarte et al. [8] are described. Regarding the geometry
instead of NC. Thus, the ductility of Rubberized Concrete Filled of the columns, all sections (circular, square and rectangular)
Steel Tubes (RuCFST) columns shall increase in comparison with experimentally studied by Duarte et al. [8] were modelled. For each
their CFST counterparts. cross-section geometry, the five (four in the case of rectangular
sections) configurations (variations of steel tube diameter/width
Taking advantage of both the structural performance of the and thickness) and, for each of these, the three steel grades of
CFST columns and of the improved ductility and energy dissipation the tested columns [8] were investigated (S235, S275 and S355).
capacities of RuC compared to those of NC [1–4], RuCFST were Regarding the concrete cores, the three concrete mixes previously
recently studied [8,9]. Duarte et al. [8] conducted an experimental investigated [8] were considered: (i) a normal concrete mix (NC)
investigation on short cold formed steel tubes, considering three and two Rubberized Concrete (RuC) mixes, obtained by replacing
cross section geometries (circular, square and rectangular), filled (ii) 5% (RuC5) and (iii) 15% (RuC15) of the total natural aggregates
with three concrete mixes (one NC and two RuC mixes with 5% volume of the NC composition with coarse (4–11.2 mm size) tyre
and 15% replacement of total NA volume with coarse rubber aggre- rubber particles, in the coarse fraction of aggregates.
gates), subjected to monotonic concentric compression. The Static monotonic non-linear geometrical analyses of the models
authors’ main conclusion was that, even though the strength and were performed using the finite element (FE) commercial package
stiffness of RuCFST columns were lower than those of CFST ABAQUS [15] and an incremental-iterative scheme based on the
columns, the former presented higher ductility than the latter, modified Riks method.
especially for columns with circular sections. As previously men-
tioned, this is a major benefit for structures in seismic areas, where 2.1. Geometry and FE mesh
energy dissipation requirements are mandatory. Silva et al. [9]
experimentally studied the flexural behaviour of long RuCFST cir- The geometry, size, steel grade and concrete mixes of the col-
cular columns subjected to both monotonic and cyclic bending umns are shown in Table 1 [8]. Taking the specimen labelled
testing. These authors observed that the RuCFST column (i) with R120x2_235_0 (Table 1) as an example: (i) ‘‘R” stands for the rect-
diameter of 219 mm and tube thickness of 5 mm and (ii) infilled angular cross-section shape (‘‘C” – circular and ‘‘S” – square), (ii)
with RuC15, presented a maximum drop of lateral force ranging ‘‘120x2” are the nominal major exterior width and nominal tube
between 6% (monotonic) and 8% (cyclic) of its CFST counterpart. thickness in millimetres, respectively, (iii) ‘‘235” is the S235 steel
The drift for maximum lateral load of the RuCFST column nominal yield stress in N/mm2 and (iv) ‘‘0” stands for a NC core
presented an increase between 6% (monotonic) and 22% (cyclic) (‘‘5” – RuC5 and ‘‘15” – RuC15). Additionally, in Table 1: (i) B is
of that exhibited by the CFST column. the nominal exterior and nominal major exterior width of the
The main objective of the research presented herein was to square and rectangular columns, respectively, (ii) b is the nominal
develop and calibrate numerical models of both CFST and RuCFST exterior minor width of the rectangular columns, (iii) D is the nom-
short columns experimentally studied by Duarte et al. [8] and to inal exterior diameter of the circular columns, (iv) t is the measured
analyse and draw conclusions regarding their performance. During tube (wall) thickness, (v) re is the measured exterior corner radius of
the last decade, several numerical investigations [10–13] have square and rectangular columns and (vi) H is the height of the short
been carried out to study the behaviour of CFST columns with dif- columns (i.e. specimen length between 300 mm and 500 mm).
ferent types of concrete inside (e.g. high-strength concrete). This Fig. 1 provides an overview of the circular, square, and rectan-
paper presents, for the first time, the modelling and simulation gular columns FE models’ geometry and mesh. Due to the double
of the structural behaviour of RuCFST columns. Hence, the first symmetry of the columns, only one fourth of each specimen was
challenge of this study results from how to model the mechanical modelled with adequate boundary conditions provided [10,11].
behaviour of rubberized concrete. Since, as described before, most Hence, nodes from both concrete and steel parts in the XZ symme-
studies on RuC properties have mainly an experimental nature try plane were restrained in the Y axis direction and nodes in the
[1–4], Duarte et al. [14] decided to firstly develop a numerical symmetry plane YZ were restrained in the X axis direction.
study on RuC at a macroscale material’s level. These authors This option allowed the use of a refined mesh, thus improving
employed an Image Processing-Extended Finite Element Method the numerical solution without additional computational time
coupled procedure, allowing the separate modelling of rubber (see Appendix A).
30 A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40
Table 1
Geometrical and material characterization of CFST and RuCFST [8].
Geometry Specimens B [mm] b [mm] D [mm] t [mm] re [mm] H [mm] D/t, B/t
Circular C114x3_235_0/5/15 – – 114 2.70 – 300 42.2
C114x3_275_0/5/15 – – 114 3.20 – 300 35.6
C152x3_275_0/5/15 – – 152 2.85 – 500 53.3
C219x4_235_0/5/15 – – 219 3.85 – 500 56.9
C219x4_355_0/5/15 – – 219 4.25 – 500 51.5
Square S100x3_235_0/5/15 100 – – 3.00 9.3 500 33.3
S100x3_355_0/5/15 100 – – 3.05 5.0 500 32.8
S150x3_235_0/5/15 150 – – 3.05 5.0 500 49.2
S220x4_235_0/5/15 220 – – 3.70 8.5 500 59.5
S220x4.5_355_0/5/15 220 – – 4.70 12.0 500 46.8
Rectangular R120x2_235_0/5/15 120 60 – 1.65 8.0 500 72.7
R120x3_275_0/5/15 120 60 – 2.75 6.0 500 43.6
R160x5_275_0/5/15 160 80 – 4.50 12.0 500 35.6
R200x4_235_0/5/15 200 100 – 3.90 12.0 400 51.3
S6 R6
C4
C3 S4 S5 R4 R5
S3 R3
C2
H/10 S2 H/10 R2
C1 S1 H/10 R1
For the modelling of both steel and concrete parts, 8 node solid numerical models with circular, square, and rectangular cross-
three-dimensional brick FEs with full integration, designated by sections has, on average, 3970, 4620 and 2960 FEs, respectively.
C3D8 in ABAQUS [15], were adopted. Whereas for the simulation
of the concrete core, solid elements are the most common option, 2.2. Material
for the simulation of steel tube, in CFST models, the adoption of
both solid or shell finite elements can be found in the literature Regarding the cold-formed steel tubes, the three steel grades
[10–12]. Because both solid (3D) and shell finite elements led to studied (S235, S275 and S355) in Duarte et al. [8] were considered.
similar results (see the study in Appendix A), we opted to follow Table 2 shows the measured [8] mechanical properties of the steel
Ellobody et al. [10] and Dai and Lam [12] and use solid (3D) finite (average values ± standard deviation), namely, (i) yield stress fy, (ii)
elements to discretize the steel tubes. tensile stress fu, (iii) tensile strain eu and (iv) Young’s modulus Es,
In the longitudinal direction, along the specimens’ height, H, the determined by testing five coupons taken from the flat surfaces
length of the FEs was kept uniform: H/100 for the steel part, and of tubes with the three different steel grades. Additionally, in
H/50 for the concrete part. Along the cross-section contour, the Fig. 2 the measured [8] stress–strain curves of one (out of five) cou-
width of the FEs was kept constant: D/25 and B/25 for the steel pon per steel grade are presented.
part, and D/12.5 and B/12.5 for the concrete part, respectively for Regarding the modelling of steel, an elastic–plastic behaviour
the circular and the square/rectangular columns, having D and B with hardening, bi-linear stress–strain constitutive law was
the meaning previously referred to. In short, the mesh of the adopted. In terms of steel elastic properties, the experimental
A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40 31
Table 2 Table 4
Measured mechanical properties of steel tubes [8]. Measured mechanical properties of the concrete mixes [8].
Steel Grade fy [MPa] fu [MPa] eu Es [GPa] Concrete mix fcm [MPa] Ecm [GPa] fctm [MPa] ecm [%] BI [–] m [–]
S235 284.0 ± 13.8 403.0 ± 11.0 0.33 ± 0.03 187.2 ± 16.6 NC 49.5 ± 3.7 37.6 ± 0.8 3.4 ± 0.1 0.20 1.31 0.20
S275 367.7 ± 8.8 463.1 ± 9.9 0.25 ± 0.02 RuC5 39.3 ± 4.5 33.4 ± 0.6 2.6 ± 0.0 0.42 1.11 0.21
S355 455.5 ± 10.6 570.9 ± 9.8 0.24 ± 0.01 RuC15 25.2 ± 2.4 26.5 ± 0.7 2.0 ± 0.1 0.54 0.75 0.23
800 60
NC
700 RuC5
50
600 RuC15
500 40
400
30
300
S235
200 20
S275
100
S355 10 A1 A2
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
0
Strain 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006
Strain
Fig. 2. Experimental stress–strain curves of steel grades [8].
Fig. 3. Compressive stress–strain curves of NC, RuC5 and RuC15 [8].
value of the Young’s modulus (Table 2) was adopted and the stan- lower than those of NC, being the only exception the maximum
dard value ms = 0.3 was used for the Poisson’s ratio. The experimen- strain (ductility) of RuCs, which is higher than that of NC, as shown
tally measured stresses (rexp) and strains (eexp) (Table 2) were in Fig. 3: ec.RuC5 = 2.1ec.NC and ec.RuC15 = 2.7ec.NC [8]. Moreover, to
converted into true stresses (rtrue) and logarithmic strains (eln) confirm the increase in ductility of RuC mixes compared to NC,
according to [15], the brittleness index (BI) of the three concrete mixes was also
rtrue ¼ rexp ð1 þ eexp Þ; ð1Þ assessed. The BI is defined as the ratio A2/A1, where A2 is the
recoverable (elastic) energy at fracture (see area A2 in Fig. 3) and
eln ¼ lnð1 þ eexp Þ: ð2Þ A1 is the irrecoverable (plastic or residual) energy (see area A1 in
Fig. 3). By definition, the smaller the BI value, the more ductile
Hence, the values of yield (fy) and ultimate (fu) stresses and ten- the material is [3]. According to the measured BI values of RuC
sile strains (eu) adopted in the models were: (i) fy = 284.6 MPa, and NC mixes presented in Table 3 it can be confirmed that RuC’s
fu = 536.0 MPa, and eu = 0.29 (steel S235), (ii) fy = 368.4 MPa, ductility tends to increase with the increase of rubber content.
fu = 578.9 MPa, and eu = 0.22 (steel S275), and (iii) fy = 456.4 MPa, Modelling the concrete inside the steel tubes is always a chal-
fu = 707.9 MPa, and eu = 0.22 (steel S355). lenging task due to the passive confinement effect provided by
Regarding the concrete cores, the three experimentally studied the steel tube, delaying the propagation of cracking in the concrete
[8] concrete mixes were considered in this study, as shown in core, thus increasing its compressive strength, fcm, and strain, ecm.
Table 3: (i) normal concrete (NC) and two Rubberized Concrete Regarding the elastic properties of the concrete core (NC, RuC5
(RuC) mixes, (ii) RuC5 and (iii) RuC15. and RuC15), the measured values of the Young’s modulus, Ecm
The experimentally [8] determined concrete properties, namely (Table 4) [8], were adopted. For the Poisson’s ratio of NC was
(i) the compressive strength (assessed with cubic specimens), fcm, assumed mNC = 0.20 [16], whereas for the RuCs an estimate was
(ii) the Young’s modulus (assessed with cylindrical specimens), obtained based on the ‘‘rule of mixtures” [17],
Ecm, and (iii) the splitting tensile strength (assessed with cylindrical
specimens), fctm, are presented in Table 4. Additionally, one cubic mRuC ¼ mNC V concrete þ mrubber V rubber ð3Þ
specimen of each concrete mix was monitored with a strain gauge
while tested in compression to assess the increased ductility of where mRuC is the Poisson’s ratio of RuC, Vconcrete and Vrubber are the
RuCs (RuC5 and RuC15) compared to that of NC. As it can be volumetric fraction of the concrete matrix and rubber particles in
observed (Table 4), and in agreement with the conclusions drawn the RuCs mixes (Table 3), respectively, and mrubber is the Poisson’s
by other authors [1–4], all the mechanical properties of RuC are ratio of the rubber particles (mrubber = 0.50) [14].
Table 3
NC, RuC5 and RuC15 mix proportions [8].
Sand (0.0–4.0 mm) Limestone aggregates Tyre rubber aggregates Water Cement
(4.0–22.4 mm) (4.0–11.2 mm)
Density [kg/m3] Content [kg/m3] Density [kg/m3] Content [kg/m3] Density [kg/m3] Content [kg/m3] Content [kg/m3] Content [kg/m3]
NC 2615.0 802.7 2655.0 1000.3 1150.0 0.0 185.0 350.0
RuC5 802.7 910.2 39.2 185.0
RuC15 797.8 727.1 117.1 189.0
32 A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40
800 two transversal displacements (along axes X, Y) and all three rota-
tions of the reference nodes of both the top and bottom rigid plates
P - compressive load [kN] 700 were restrained (Fig. 1). The previous boundary conditions
600 intended to model the columns’ experimental loading conditions
which consisted of imposing an increasing displacement upwards
500 to the column’s bottom section while maintaining its vertical dis-
400 placement fixed in the top section by means of a reaction beam
fixed to a metallic frame [8].
300 Exp In the normal direction, the contact interface (i) between the
column end-sections and top (supporting) and bottom (load bear-
200 Num - concrete linear
ing) rigid plates, and (ii) between the steel tube walls and concrete
100 Num - concrete Desayi core, was defined as hard contact in ABAQUS [15]. This means that
and Krishnan the aforementioned surfaces may separate under tensile forces but
0 cannot penetrate each other. In the tangential direction, a friction
0 1 2 3 4 5 coefficient of 0.25 [10,11,20] was adopted in both situations (con-
u - axial shortening [mm] tact between column end-sections and rigid plates and between
Fig. 6. Comparison between concrete descending branch modelling options of the
steel tube and concrete core). Moreover, it should be mentioned
S100x3_235_0 column. that the same friction coefficient value (0.25) was used for the
Table 5
a given strain value, herein taken as ed = 0.010. However, whereas Comparison between numerical (PNum) and experimental (PExp) ultimate strengths.
for circular columns this first modelling approach (Fig. 4) proved to
Geometry Concrete Column PNum PExp PNum/PExp
be accurate, for square and rectangular columns a rather modest
mix [kN] [kN] [8]
agreement was obtained between numerical and experimental
Circular NC C114x3_235_0 721.2 723.1 1.00
curves. In particular, Hu et al. [20] have shown that square and
C114x3_275_0 919.9 930.7 0.99
rectangular steel tubes with B/t > 29 (herein B/t > 32.8) provide C152x3_275_0 1310.4 1313.7 1.00
small confinement to the concrete core and, henceforth, a second C219x4_235_0 2348.9 2323.5 1.01
concrete modelling approach based on the unconfined stress– C219x4_355_0 3144.7 2887.7 1.09
strain curve proposed by Desayi and Krishnan [16] was adopted RuC5 C114x3_235_5 620.5 597.0 1.04
for square/rectangular columns (Fig. 5), i.e., different from that C114x3_275_5 813.9 826.3 0.98
adopted for their circular counterparts. Additionally, the different C152x3_275_5 1128.5 1107.8 1.02
C219x4_235_5 1980.5 2197.4 0.90
behaviour of concrete inside circular and square/rectangular steel C219x4_355_5 2737.8 2603.6 1.05
sections is a natural consequence of the difference between shell
RuC15 C114x3_235_15 497.6 483.7 1.03
buckling (circular tubes) and plate buckling (square and rectangu- C114x3_275_15 675.1 673.6 1.00
lar tubes), the former providing better confinement than the latter C152x3_275_15 898.0 939.7 0.96
[20]. Recently, Dai and Lam [12] have also proposed different mod- C219x4_235_15 1521.7 1814.7 0.84
elling approaches for concrete confined by circular and elliptical C219x4_355_15 2230.0 2244.3 0.99
steel tubes, with the latter displaying a concrete curve qualitatively
Square NC S100x3_235_0 684.3 724.1 0.95
similar to the one proposed herein for square/rectangular steel sec- S100x3_355_0 905.8 851.8 1.06
tions. This second modelling approach provided better agreement S150x3_235_0 1370.0 1367.5 1.00
between experimental and numerical curves for square and S220x4_235_0 2480.0 2520.5 0.98
rectangular columns, as illustrated in Fig. 6 for the S100x3_235_0 S220x4.5_355_0 3641.0 –* –*
Finally, as mentioned earlier, ABAQUS [15] also requires the Rectangular NC R120x2_235_0 425.9 349.7 1.22
definition of the tensile behaviour of concrete, in the CDP model, R120x3_275_0 611.6 553.6 1.10
to be simulated by a softening law using the ⁄CONCRETE TENSION R160x5_275_0 1170.4 1221.5 0.96
STIFFENING command [15]. To do so, the experimentally deter- R200x4_235_0 1336.5 1425.1 0.94
mined splitting tensile strengths, fctm (Table 4) of the concrete RuC5 R120x2_235_5 370.1 349.1 1.06
mixes were adopted for the onset of cracking, and the tensile stress R120x3_275_5 556.4 500.6 1.11
R160x5_275_5 1093.3 1133.8 0.96
was linearly varied to zero for a corresponding ultimate cracking
R200x4_235_5 1192.2 1263.6 0.94
displacement of 0.08 mm, i.e. a fully opened crack [15].
RuC15 R120x2_235_15 290.1 262.3 1.11
R120x3_275_15 476.3 484.5 0.98
2.3. Loading and boundary conditions R160x5_275_15 960.6 1054.1 0.91
R200x4_235_15 972.6 1157.2 0.84
Loading was applied to the columns by continuously imposing Average 1.01
Standard deviation 0.08
an upward longitudinal displacement (along Z axis) to the bottom
*
rigid plate (Fig. 1) while maintaining the upper rigid plate fully PExp not available because the load cell capacity (3000 kN) was exceeded in the
restrained in terms of this degree-of-freedom. Additionally, the experimental test [8].
34 A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40
1000
C
900
800
700
P - compressive load [kN]
C
600
500 D
Y C
400 D
Y
300
S100x3_235_5_Exp
200 S100x3_235_5_Num
100 S100x3_235_15_Exp
O S100x3_235_15_Num LM LM
0
LM
0 1 2 3 4 5
(a) u - axial shortening (b)
Fig. 8. Numerical vs. experimental results of columns with square sections: (a) P–u curves of S100x3_235_5 and S100x3_235_15, and (b) failure mode of S100x3_235_15.
modelling of the tangential interaction between the steel tube and Regarding the use of RuCs in replacement of NC, the numerical
the three concrete mixtures (NC, RuC5 and RuC15), as the influence results provide the same trend observed in the experimental
of this parameter on the numerical results was found to be tests [8]: the axial strength and stiffness of RuCFST (using
negligible (see Appendix A). RuC5 and RuC15) are lower than those of CFST (using NC) due
to the lower compressive strength (fcm,cube) and Young’s modu-
3. Numerical results and discussion lus (Ecm) of RuCs.
The numerical (PNum) and experimental (PExp) ultimate
In this section, the results of non-linear FE analyses of the short strengths show good agreement for the CFST and RuCFST
columns are presented (Table 5 and Figs. 7–9) and validated by columns studied – the average value of PNum/PExp is 1.01 and
comparison with the experimental results [8]: (i) collapse standard deviation value is 0.08 (Table 5).
strengths (PNum and PExp), (ii) compressive load (P) vs. axial Columns with circular sections (Fig. 7(a)) display numerical P-u
shortening curves (u) and (iii) failure modes. curves with four different parts, similarly observed in experi-
Table 5 presents the ultimate strengths, PNum, obtained from the mental curves [8]. They comprise (i) an elastic path (O–Y), (ii)
non-linear analyses, and a comparison between numerical (PNum) an initial ascending non-linear branch (Y–H), in which the
and experimental (PExp) ultimate strengths, as well as the ratio non-linear behaviour of concrete develops and steel yielding
PNum/PExp. Fig. 7(a) (C114x3_275_0 and C114x3_275_15), Fig. 8(a) spreads, (iii) a final ascending non-linear branch (H–C), in which
(S100x3_235_5 and S100x3_235_15), and Fig. 9(a) the concrete core tends to expand further but the circular tube
(R200x4_235_0 and R200x4_235_5) illustrate the variation of delays it (concrete confinement explains the inflection point H),
compressive load (P) with axial shortening (u), i.e. P–u curves, and (iv) a descending path (C–D), in which concrete crushes and
obtained numerically and experimentally. Additionally, Fig. 7(b) a local mechanism (LM) develops in the steel tube, associated to
(C114x3_235_0), Fig. 8(b) (S100x3_235_15) and Fig. 9(b) local buckling and steel yielding (Fig. 7(b)).
(R200x4_235_5) depict the configuration of column failure modes For columns with circular sections (Fig. 7(a)), and comparing
obtained from the numerical analyses and experimental tests. the NC curve (C114x3_275_0) with the RuC15 curve
From Table 5 and Fig. 7 (circular columns), Fig. 8 (square col- (C114x3_235_15), it is observed that the H–C–D branches of
umns), and Fig. 9 (rectangular columns), it may be concluded that: these curves shift from a well-defined peak to a horizontal
A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40 35
1600
1400 C
plateau. In fact, the axial shortening at which the ultimate load of NC, due to the ability of rubber particles to prevent crack
occurs (maximum point C) increases with the rubber content: propagation [14,26]. Conversely, in NC cracking initiates for
uC = 5.60 mm (C114x3_275_0) and uC = 10.6 mm (C114x3_ compressive stresses of about 70% of fcm [16,27] and their prop-
275_15). Hence, the ultimate axial shortening increases agation is more abrupt, thus resulting in a more brittle failure
5.0 mm when the core of C114x3_275 column shifts from NC compared to that of RuC. Since cracking is responsible for the
to RuC15. In particular, a higher shortening increase of about stiffness degradation of concrete and considering that the
7.8 mm was experimentally observed [8] for C114x3_235 col- stress–strain constitutive law of NC was adopted for the mod-
umns when replacing the NC core by the RuC15 one2. In conclu- elling of RuC, this may explain the overestimation of stiffness
sion, it is undeniable that the increase of rubber content in the of the latter which then resulted in an overestimation of the
concrete core increases the axial shortening at which the ultimate global stiffness of the RuCFST modelled.
load is reached and this is beneficial since it improves the column Regarding the ductility of square columns, it can be observed
ductility. that shifting from a NC core (S100x3_235_0 – Fig. 6) to a
The P–u curves of columns with square and rectangular sections RuC15 core (S100x3_235-15 – Fig. 8(a)) leads to an axial short-
(Figs. 8(a) and 9(a)) also present the same three distinct parts ening increase from u = 1.0 mm to u = 2.1 mm. Hence, it can be
observed in the experimental curves [8]: (i) an elastic path concluded that the increase of rubber content (from 0% to 15%)
(O–Y) up to the onset of steel yielding and initiation of concrete in square columns leads to an increase of the ultimate shorten-
crushing, (ii) a non-linear ascending branch (Y–C), in which ing of 1.1 mm, which is lower than that observed for columns
plasticity spreads due to concrete non-linear behaviour and with circular sections (5.0 mm). This trend was also observed
strain hardening develops in steel, and (iii) a nonlinear descend- in the experimental results [8], in which an increase in ductility
ing path (C–D), in which a local mechanism (LM) develops in the of 150% was observed for columns with circular sections, while
tube, leading to crushing of the concrete core inside the tube, as for the case of columns with either square or rectangular sec-
shown in Figs. 8(b) and 9(b). tions the increase in ductility was of 40%.
It may also be concluded from the observation of P–u curves Finally, it should be referred to that the increase of concrete
that the numerical models exhibit an initial stiffness higher strength due to the confinement provided by the circular steel
than the tested columns. Similar differences in elastic stiffness tube3 to the concrete core decreases with the increase in rubber
were also observed by other authors when comparing numeri- content (see P–u curves in Fig. 7(a)): between points H and C, the
cal and experimental results [11,20,25]. The main causes for increase of load due to confinement effects is DPHC = 120 kN for
these differences may be attributed to (i) small gaps on the C114x3_275_0 but only DPHC = 55 kN for C114x3_275_15. This
experimental test rig, (ii) existence of initial imperfections and is probably due to the lower value of the dilation angle W
residual stresses in the steel tubes and (iii) small eccentricity adopted for the RuC15 (W = 10°), compared to that of NC
in the loading and out of ‘‘straightness” of the columns, which (W = 20°). This trend was also reported in [8], from the observa-
were not considered in the models. Additionally, the fact that tion of C114x3_235 P-u curves obtained in tests, and indicated as
the stress–strain curve for NC proposed in Part 1–1 of Eurocode a possible explanation for Eurocode 4 part 1–1 [28], being more
2 [22] (Eqs. (5)–(7)) was adopted for modelling the behaviour of unsafe in predicting the ultimate loads of RuCFST columns, as
RuCs in compression may also contribute for a further stiffness the rubber content increases, due to the overestimation of the
overestimation of the RuCFST models. This is due to the fact that concrete confinement effect.
crack initiation in RuC occurs for a lower percentage of its
uniaxial compressive strength (fcm) than that of NC. In the for- Based on the good agreement observed between numerical and
mer, the onset of cracking occurs for compressive stresses circa experimental results, including (i) ultimate strengths (PNum and
30% of fcm, due to the stress concentration near the rubber PExp), (ii) load-shortening (P–u) curves and (iii) short column failure
particles, though their propagation is more gradual than that modes, it can be concluded that the proposed FE models were
accurately validated.
2
The higher steel yield stress of C114x3_275 column (fy = 368 MPa), compared to
that of C114x3_235 column (fy = 284 MPa), might explain the lower shortening
increase observed (5.0 vs. 7.8 mm) – it is well known that higher strength of steel is
3
often associated to lower ductility [5]. This effect is almost absent in square and rectangular tubes.
36 A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40
20 20
C1 C2 C1 C2
18 C3 C4 18 C3 C4
4. Numerical study on confining pressure C114x3_275_15 (Fig. 10(b)), C219x4_235_0 (Fig. 10(c)), and
C219x4_235_15 (Fig. 10(d)).
As stated earlier, modelling the concrete inside the steel tubes For the square sections (Fig. 11), six points were chosen (S1–S6,
was a challenging task due to its passive confinement and, addi- see Fig. 1(b)) and the most compact column (B/t = 32.8) was
tionally, the simulation of RuC was also complex because informa- selected, with both NC and RuC15. This leads to two columns:
tion on RuC material models is very scarce. Hence, the objective of S100x3_355_0 (Fig. 11(a)) and S100x3_355_15 (Fig. 11(b));
the numerical study described in this section, based on the good For the rectangular section (Fig. 12), six points were chosen
agreement between the numerical models and experimental (R1–R6, see Fig. 1(c)) and the most slender column (B/t = 72.7)
results, is to further analyse how the concrete core behaves. The was selected with NC. This leads to the single column
aim is to understand the influence of relevant parameters, such R120x2_235_0 (Fig. 12).4
as cross-section shape, cross-section slenderness (D/t, B/t), steel
yield stress and concrete mix properties, on the level of concrete Fig. 10 shows that, due to the symmetry of revolution of circular
confinement. In particular, NC and RuC15 are compared, being sections, fl is similar in nodes C1 and C2, as well as in nodes C3 and
the two most different concrete mixes studied in this work. In C4 – the fl vs. u curves are almost coincident. In fact, whereas in
order to achieve this goal, the numerical lateral confining pressures columns with circular sections, fl is almost constant along the
(fl) between the steel and concrete parts are first analysed in detail cross-section contour, even though it varies along the column
for some columns modelled. Figs. 10 (circular sections), 11 (square height (see the difference between C1/C3 and C2/C4), in columns
sections) and 12 (rectangular section) show the variation of with square and rectangular sections, fl is not constant along the
numerical lateral confining pressure (fl) between the steel tube section contour and it only develops at the corners. As seen in
and the concrete core with the column’s axial shortening (u). Figs. 11 and 12, corner points S2 and S5 (square columns –
The data was organized according to the following procedure: Fig. 11) and R5 (rectangular columns – Fig. 12) are the only ones
that develop values of fl different from zero. Regarding circular col-
For the circular sections (Fig. 10), four points were chosen (C1– umns, the lower fl values registered in nodes C1 and C2, compared
C4, see Fig. 1(a)) and two geometries were selected: to those in nodes C3 and C4, are a consequence of the failure mode
C114x3_275 (the most compact one, with D/t = 35.6) and of circular columns, in which the local mechanism tends to develop
C219x4_235 (the most slender one, with D/t = 56.9). For each
case, both NC and RuC15 were considered. This leads to four 4
The fl–u curves of column R120x2_235_15 were not depicted in Fig. 12 because
columns with circular sections: C114x3_275_0 (Fig. 10(a)), the confining pressure fI was found to be null in every node.
A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40 37
100 100
S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3
90 S4 S5 S6 90 S4 S5 S6
(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Numerical confining pressure fl versus shortening u for square sections: (a) S100x3_355_0 and (b) S100x3_355_15.
C3 S6
S5
C4
S4
(a) (b)
Fig. 13. Patterns of concrete compressive stresses at maximum compressive load: (a) C114x3_275_0 and (b) S100x3_235_0.
38 A.P.C. Duarte et al. / Composite Structures 150 (2016) 28–40
5 0.032
fl/fy
0.016
2
1 0.008
0
-0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.000
20 30 40 50 60
v - volumetric strain D/t
Fig. 14. Numerical volumetric strain ev versus shortening u of C114x3_275 column Fig. 15. Influence of the cross-section slenderness, steel yield stress and concrete
with of NC and RuC15. mix on the numerical concrete confining pressure.
The models were validated through the comparison between the through doctoral scholarship SFRH/BD/97176/2013. All the authors
numerical and experimental results, including the columns’ ulti- would like also to acknowledge FCT for the financial support
mate strength, compressive load vs. axial shortening curve and through the research project ‘‘Recycling & Seismic Protection:
failure mode configuration. Lower strength and stiffness, but Sustainable High-Performance CFST Columns for Seismic Areas”
higher ductility, of RuCFST, compared to CFST columns, were (PTDC/ECM/117774/2010). The corresponding author also
numerically observed, in agreement with the experimental data; acknowledges the financial support provided by FCT, through
Compressive stresses developed in the concrete core of columns IDMEC, under LAETA, project UID/EMS/50022/2013. All the authors
with circular sections were found to be up to 60% higher than would like to thank Ferpinta (Eng. Bruno Marques), Biosafe,
the adopted unconfined concrete strength in the case of the Biogoma, Recipneu and SECIL for supplying the materials needed
stockiest circular column filled with standard concrete, due to for the development of the experimental programme.
confinement effects. In the columns with square and rectangu-
lar sections, concrete compressive stresses were of the magni-
tude of the unconfined concrete compressive strength; Appendix A.
As stressed out by other authors, the dilation angle of RuC was
shown to be lower than that of NC: for 5% and 15% of rubber In this appendix, some basic modelling aspects discussed earlier
particles content, the dilation angle is 75% and 50% of that of in the paper are analysed in more detail. For this purpose, four
the NC, respectively. The lower dilation angles of RuCs resulted models of column S100x3_235_15 were considered:
in lower confining pressures developed between the steel tube
and the concrete cores, which also contributed for a lower con- Reference model (RM), i.e. The model described in the paper
crete hardening effect observed in RuCFST rather than CFST: the (Fig. A1(a)): one quarter of the whole column + steel tube with
compressive strength increase in columns filled with RuC15 due solid (3D) finite elements + steel–concrete friction coefficient of
to the concrete hardening effect was found out to be 54% lower 0.25.
than that observed in columns filled with NC; Model without symmetry simplifications (WM), i.e. the model
Confining pressures in columns with circular sections were with the whole column (Fig. A1(b)). The difference between
analysed in detail and confirmed to be dependent not only on RM and WM is only the geometry.
the tube slenderness and steel yield stress, but also on the con- Model with shell finite elements (SM) to discretize the steel
crete mix (i.e. rubber particle content). Approximated curves tube (Fig. A1(c)). The sole difference between RM and SM is
correlating the aforementioned parameters were fitted to exist- the type of finite element used for the tube.
ing data. A good agreement was shown and new expressions to Model with a higher friction coefficient (FM) (Fig. A1(a)). The
predict the confining pressure in the studied circular RuCFST unique difference between RM and FM is the value of friction
columns were put forward. coefficient between the steel tube and the concrete core: in this
case a value of 0.50 was adopted, twice that of RM.
Acknowledgements
Using these models, four numerical compressive load (P) vs.
The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support axial shortening (u) curves (Fig. A2) are presented and compared.
provided by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal), The observation of Figs. A1 and A2 prompt the following remarks:
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