ARTICLE IN PRESS

Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Thin-Walled Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tws

Analytical behavior of circular concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubes

subjected to bending
Hui Lu a, Lin-Hai Han b,, Xiao-Ling Zhao a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3800, Australia
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China

a r t i c l e in f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a finite element analysis (FEA) modeling to study the flexural performance of
Received 11 March 2008 circular concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubular (CFST) beam. A set of test data was used to verify the
Received in revised form FEA modeling; generally, good agreement was achieved. The FEA modeling was then used to investigate
19 June 2008
the stress and strain distributions across the composite section in the whole loading procedure. The
Accepted 1 July 2008
composite action between the steel tube and its concrete core was analyzed. A strut–tie model was
Available online 16 August 2008
proposed for the load transfer mechanism of the circular composite member subjected to pure bending.
Keywords: & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST)
Beam
Bending
Composite action
Finite element analysis (FEA)

1. Introduction beams was investigated as well [9,12]. A mechanics modeling and

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) is a typical steel–concrete
composite member, which has high load-bearing capacity and
other good structural performances, such as high ductility and
energy dissipation ability, due to the composite action between
steel and concrete in the member. CFST has been generally used as
columns or piers in buildings or infrastructures because of its
superior structural behavior. Columns in buildings transfer
vertical loads and/or moments induced by lateral loads or load
eccentricity. There has been lots of research conducted for
investigation of the behavior and performance of CFST under
axial load alone and combined axial load and moment interaction
[1–4]. Pure bending is the extreme case of beam-column in which
there is no axial load present, but the flexural behavior of CFST is
not independent of the behavior under axial load and axial
load–moment interaction. As a result, the flexural behavior of
CFST has also been extensively studied [5–13].
Similar to CFST columns, the flexural capacity, stiffness,
ductility, and energy dissipation ability of CFST beams are
enhanced due to the presence of the in-filled concrete, and CFST
beams generally fail in a very ductile way. Calculation methods for
flexural capacity and stiffness of CFST beam have been proposed
[5–8]. The influence of parameters, such as shear span ratio and
width-to-wall ratio and local buckling, on the behavior of CFST
 Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 62797067; fax: +86 10 62781488.
E-mail address: lhhan@tsinghua.edu.cn (L.-H. Han).
simplified numerical methods were also proposed to simulate the
flexural behavior of CFST beams [7,8].
Experimental methods have been basic means of researching
the behavior of CFST, while numerical modeling methods become
increasingly important because they can simulate cases that are
difficult or even impossible to be completed by experiments. Due
to the complexity of composite action in CFST, simplified
numerical modeling was popular in simulating CFST beam,
column, and beam-column [7,14,15]. The most important advan-
tage of such models is their being very efficient in calculation. But
their disadvantages are also obvious, such as being incapable of
exactly interpreting the composite action between concrete and
steel. Some simplification assumptions are generally required in
these simplified numerical models. Another numerical method
generally used in investigating CFST is finite element analysis
(FEA) method. FEA modeling is generally more complex and time
consuming, but it is helpful to investigate the composite action in
CFST. FEA method has been used in the research of the behavior of
CFST column and beam-column [16–18]. However, it was
generally difficult to use FEA modeling to analyze CFST beam
under large deformation because cracking in the tensile zone of
concrete may affect the convergence. With the development of
FEA method and material models for concrete in the recent years,
it is now possible to use FEA modeling to analyze CFST beam in
the plastic stage.
This paper thus is an attempt to analyze the flexural
performance of CFST beam in a detailed way by using FEA
modeling. The commercial FEA package, ABAQUS [19], is used in

0263-8231/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tws.2008.07.004
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H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358 347

Nomenclature Ki initial flexural stiffness of CFST beam

Kie experimental initial flexural stiffness of CFST beam
a shear span Kic calculated initial flexural stiffness of CFST beam
Ac concrete cross-sectional area Ks service-level flexural stiffness of CFST beam
As steel cross-sectional area Kse experimental service-level flexural stiffness of CFST
a/D shear-span-to-depth ratio beam
CFST concrete-filled steel tubes Ksc calculated service-level flexural stiffness of CFST
D diameter of circular steel tube beam
Ec elastic modulus of concrete L0 calculation length of the composite member
Es elastic modulus of steel M bending moment
0
fc cylinder strength of concrete Mu ultimate bending strength of the composite section
fck characteristic concrete strength (fck ¼ 0.67fcu for Mue experimental moment capacity
normal strength concrete) Muc calculated moment capacity
fcu characteristic 28-day concrete cube strength ri inner radius of steel tube
fy yield strength of steel ro outer radius of steel tube
fu ultimate strength of steel t wall thickness of steel tube
Fc force in concrete a steel ratio ( ¼ As/Ac)
Fs force in steel g angle between center line and plastic neutral axis
Fstrut force of compressive strut s stress
Ftie force of tensile tie e strain
Gf fracture energy of concrete x confinement factor (x ¼ Asfsy/Acfck)
hn distance between plastic neutral axis and central line tbond bond between concrete and steel
of the section

the numerical simulation. This investigation aims to use the FEA in compression and cracking in tension. The concrete-damaged
modeling to analyze the flexural behavior, interaction of concrete plasticity model adopts a unique yield function with nonassociated
and steel, and load transfer mechanism in circular CFST under flow and a Drucker–Prager hyperbolic flow potential function to
pure bending. Some key issues in the FEA modeling are discussed, describe the plasticity of concrete. Therefore, independent uniaxial
i.e. the material models for concrete and steel, interface model to stress–strain relation for concrete both in compression and tension
simulate the concrete and steel interface, element type, mesh, and is the basic input data due to the difference in strength and failure
boundary condition. A set of test results is used to verify the FEA mechanism in compression and tension.
modeling. The FEA modeling is then used to investigate the stress It is well known that the compressive strength and ductility of
and strain in steel tube and concrete core, and the interaction of concrete can increase under hydrostatic pressure. The concrete-
concrete and steel tube in CFST subjected to pure bending. Finally, damaged plasticity model is capable of analyzing concrete under
the load transfer mechanism of circular CFST subjected to pure multiple stresses state, yet it is developed for concrete under low
bending is investigated. confining pressure [19]. The yield strength of steel is several times
the compressive strength of concrete in CFST; steel tube may
provide strong confinement on the concrete. Such confinement on
2. FEA modeling concrete in compression should be considered in the compressive
uniaxial stress–strain relation if the concrete-damaged plasticity
2.1. Material constitutive model model is to be used. Here, a uniaxial compressive stress–strain
relation proposed by Han et al. [16] for FEA analysis of CFST is
A steel constitutive model for structural steel in Han et al. [15] used. The equations for this relation are as follows:
is utilized for uniaxial stress–strain relation of steel. In this steel
8
material model, hardening of the steel is considered. The > 2
< 2x  x xp1;
deformation of steel includes elastic, elastic–plastic, plastic, y¼ x (1)
> x41;
hardening and fracture, as shown in Fig. 1, where fp, fy, and fu : b ðx  1Þ2 þ x
0
represent the proportional limit, yield, and ultimate strength of
steel, and ee ¼ 0.8fy/Es, ee1 ¼ 1.5ee, ee2 ¼ 10ee1, ee3 ¼ 100ee1. The 0
where x ¼ e/e0, y ¼ s/s0; x ¼ Asfy/Acfck; s0 ¼ f c (N/mm2);
Mises yield function with associated plastic flow is used in the
e0 ¼ ec+800x0.27  106; ec ¼ (1300+12.5f 0c )  106; b0 ¼ ð2:36 
multiaxial stress states. The steel is assumed to have isotropic 5 ½0:25þðx0:5Þ  0 0:5
10 Þ ðf c Þ  0:5X0:12.
hardening behavior, i.e. the yield surface changes uniformly in all
directions, so that yield stresses increase or decrease in all stress

directions when plastic straining occurs [19]. When the Mises
stress reaches the yield stress of the steel, it can still increase fu
when subjected to further plastic straining, because there is a fy
hardening stage in the stress–strain relationship. However, when
fp
Mises stress reaches the ultimate strength of steel, the steel tube
is assumed to be failed because successive plastic deformation
occurs at this stress level. Elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio for
steel are taken as 2  105 N/mm2 and 0.3.
Concrete constitutive model used is the concrete-damaged 0 e e1 e2 e3 
plasticity model in ABAQUS [19]. Concrete is brittle material with
different failure mechanisms in compression and tension, crushing Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of uniaxial stress–strain relation for steel.

348 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358
0
In the equations, fy and f c represent the yield strength of steel
and the cylinder strength of concrete, respectively, Ac and As
represent the cross-sectional area of concrete and steel, respec-
tively, fck is the characteristic concrete strength which is taken as
0.67 times of cube strength of concrete for normal strength
concrete (i.e. 0.67fcu).
The uniaxial tensile stress–strain relation for concrete can be
described either in stress–strain or fracture energy versus
displacement a cross crack relation in the concrete-damaged
plasticity model [19]. It is found that the fracture energy is more
applicable for concrete tensile constitutive model in terms of
convergency. Here, the fracture energy of tensile concrete is
defined as a material property of concrete to describe the
postfailure of concrete under tension. The schematic relation of
fracture energy and displacement is shown in Fig. 2. The fracture
energy of tensile concrete is defined in the following equation
[20]:
 0 0:7
fc
Gf ¼ g  103 N=mm;
10
0
where f c is in N/mm2; g ¼ 1.25dmax+10, dmax is the diameter (in
mm) of coarse aggregate. qffiffiffiffiffi
0
The elastic property of concrete is Ec ¼ 1730 f c in N/mm2 and
mc ¼ 0.2 [21].
2.2. Steel–concrete interface model
The interface model to simulate the interaction of steel and
concrete in CFST is the contact interaction in ABAQUS [19]. This
contact interaction model is capable of simulating the mechanical
interactions of two deformable bodies at the interface. The contact
interaction is defined in two aspects, the geometric property and
the mechanical property.
The geometric property of the contact surfaces is defined by
selecting appropriate contact discretization, tracking approach
and determination of master and slave surface in the contact
surfaces. The surface-to-surface contact discretization is used, in
which two of the contact surfaces are defined as master and slave
surfaces, respectively. Some individual nodes in master surface
may penetrate into slave surface; however, large, undetected
penetrations of master nodes into the slave surface do not occur
with this discretization [19]. Such penetrations can be further
reduced through careful selection of the master surface and finite
element discretization of contact surfaces. A small-sliding track-
ing approach is selected for the surfaces. This approach is more
efficient in the calculation, and the actual sliding between steel
and concrete surfaces in CFST is relatively small.
The mechanical property of the contact interaction is defined
along normal and tangential to the interface, respectively. The
‘‘hard contact’’ relation is selected as normal mechanical property.
This property can be described in a pressure–overclosure relation,
i.e. surfaces transmit no contact pressure unless the nodes of the
t
t0
Gf =t0 u0 / 2
0 u0
Fig. 2. Postfailure stress–fracture energy curve.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
slave surface contact the master surface and no limitation on
pressure development when surfaces are in contact [19]. Further-
more, two contact surfaces are allowed to separate from each
other after they have contacted. The tangential mechanical
property of the contact interaction is simulated by an isotropic
Coulomb friction model. The shear force between surfaces is
calculated by friction coefficient and contact pressure. A friction
coefficient of 0.25 is assigned in the calculation. The bond of steel
and concrete surfaces is defined as follows [22]:
 
D
tbond ¼ 2:314  0:0195 N=mm2 , (3)
t
where D and t represent the outer diameter and thickness of the
steel tube, respectively.
Sliding between surfaces initiates when the shear force is
greater than the shear limitation, i.e. bond in steel and concrete
surfaces.
2.3. Element, boundary condition, and mesh
(2)
Type of element for steel tube and concrete is selected from
element library in ABAQUS [19]. Based on the geometric
characteristics of concrete and steel in the CFST, solid and shell
elements are chosen for concrete and steel. In each of these
element families, there are still options to be determined. Second-
order elements are generally more efficient in geometry simula-
tion and stress/displacement modeling than first-order elements.
But, the calculation of contact pressure between contact surfaces
may be erroneous when a second-order element is used for the
contact bodies. However, hourglassing can be a problem for first-
order elements. Incorporating reduced-integration with first-
order element can be effective in resolving the problem. A denser
mesh is generally required for first-order elements. After com-
prehensively considering these factors, a first-order reduced-
integration 3D hexahedral solid element (C3D8R) and a quad-
rangular first-order reduced-integration shell element (S4R) are
chosen for concrete and steel tube.
Pinned boundary conditions are assigned at the bottom of the
steel tube near the ends of the beam. Load is applied on the top of
the steel tube. Load is simulated by applying displacement instead
of directly applying load. The nonlinear calculation is more easily
convergent under displacement loading. Trial calculation in mesh
convergency is also performed to determine appropriate discre-
tization mesh for the model. Boundary conditions and mesh of the
FEA modeling are shown in Fig. 3.
3. Verifications of the FEA modeling
A set of beam testing on CFSTs with circular sections presented
by the authors [8] is used in this paper to verify the above-
mentioned FEA modeling. The verifications include the loading
Load Load
u Pinned Pinned
Fig. 3. Boundary conditions and mesh.
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H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358 349

versus deformation curves, and the failure modes of the CFST
specimen and the core concrete.
Parameters of the specimens are shown in Table 1. The main
variation parameters are strength of concrete, cross-sectional size,
and shear-span-to-depth ratio. The specimens were loaded either
under three-point or four-point loading methods. Load was applied
by a hydraulic jack directly to the specimens in the three-point load
case or through a rigid steel beam in the four-point load case.
A sensor was installed at the front of the jack to monitor the load. In
order to observe the deformation of the specimens, stain gauges and
transducers were installed. Two strain gauges were installed on
the steel surface at the top, mid-height, and bottom positions of the
mid-span section, one along circumferential and another along the
longitudinal direction. A transducer was installed at the mid-span
and another tow installed at the supports. A schematic diagram of
the test rig is shown in Fig. 4.
The moment versus curvature, deflection and strain at top,
mid-height, and bottom of the specimens are shown in Figs. 5–9.
The first letter in the specimen name represent the size of the
specimens, denotation A and B is for specimens with diameter of
140 and 180 mm, and LC1 and LC2 in the specimen name
represent four-point and three-point load scheme, respectively.
The third group of letters in the specimen label represents the
shear span ratio, and the final letter represents the number of
specimens with the same geometric size and loading scheme.
It can be found that the CFST specimens have good ductility.
The deflection of specimens can be as large as 1/10 of the length of
the specimens and the curvature reaches 0.4–0.6 (m1). Severe
vertical cracking was found at the tension side of concrete. Most
cracks are near the mid-span for three-point load specimens.
However, they distribute more uniformly in the pure bending
zone in four-point load specimens. From these curves, it is clear
that the structural response of CFST subjected to bending
generally experiences obvious elastic, elasto-plastic, and plastic
deformation stages. There is no descending in the curves till the
specimens reach ultimate strength.
The predicted moment versus deformation curves, moment-
curvature, moment-deflection, moment-strain at top, mid-height,
and bottom of the steel tube are also shown in Figs. 5–9. The
predicted results are denoted as N1 and N2 for circular CFST with
an outer diameter of 140 mm and length of 840 and 1680 mm, and
N3 and N4 for CFST with an outer diameter of 180 mm and length
of 900 and 1800 mm.
Comparisons between the typical predicted and test failure
modes of specimen and cracking of core concrete are shown in
Fig. 10. The typical failure mode of unfilled steel hollow sections is
also shown in the figure for reference. Crack of concrete in CFST
beam can be visually illustrated by vector symbol in ABAQUS [19].
Crack of concrete in the tensile zone depends on the maximum
plastic strain. The higher the maximum plastic strain, the more
severe is the cracking of concrete. It should be noted that crack of
concrete is perpendicular to the maximum plastic strain. The
arrow and density of the maximum plastic strain vector symbol
represent the direction of the plastic strain and the extent of
concrete cracking, respectively.
The predicted flexural capacity and initial and service-level
flexural stiffness are listed in Table 1. The flexural capacity is
defined as moment corresponding to extreme tensile strain in
steel tube reaching 0.01. The initial and service-level flexural
stiffness are the scant flexural stiffness corresponding to the stage
when moment reaches 0.2 and 0.6 of the flexural capacity,
respectively.
Testing data reported by other researchers is also used to
further calibrate the FEA modeling. The moment capacity
predicted using the FEA modeling is compared with circular
thin-walled CFST beam test results obtained from Refs. [5,10] as
well as Ref. [8]. The comparison of the predicted and test results is
shown in Fig. 11.
It can be found that the predicted moment versus deformation
relationship, flexural stiffness and capacity, and failure modes of
the circular CFST beams generally agree well with those obtained
in experiments.

Table 1
Basic parameters of CFST beam specimens

No. Specimen D (mm) t (mm) D/t L0 (mm) a (mm) a/D Mue (kN m) Muc (kN m) Kie (kN m2) Kic (kN m2) Kse (kN m2) Ksc (kN m2)

1 A-LC1-1-1 140 3.0 46.7 840 210 1.5 19.8 17.7 972 993 885 772
2 A-LC1-1-2 140 3.0 46.7 840 210 1.5 21.6 17.7 962 993 857 772
3 A-LC1-3-1 140 3.0 46.7 1680 420 3.0 21.5 18.1 883 977 858 804
4 A-LC2-3-1 140 3.0 46.7 840 420 3.0 22.1 18.7 886 904 875 862
5 A-LC2-6-1 140 3.0 46.7 1680 840 6.0 20.7 18.0 904 904 810 781
6 A-LC2-6-2 140 3.0 46.7 1680 840 6.0 20.4 18.0 890 904 854 781
7 B-LC1-1-1 180 3.0 60.0 900 225 1.25 33.9 31.6 2473 2655 2116 2265
8 B-LC1-1-2 180 3.0 60.0 900 225 1.25 34.9 31.6 2393 2655 2266 2265
9 B-LC1-2-1 180 3.0 60.0 1800 450 2.5 32.2 32.5 2383 2670 1810 1980
10 B-LC2-2-1 180 3.0 60.0 900 450 2.5 40.6 33.0 2770 2370 2353 2150
11 B-LC2-5-1 180 3.0 60.0 1800 900 5.0 36.2 31.9 2371 2430 2072 2100
12 B-LC2-5-2 180 3.0 60.0 1800 900 5.0 36.3 31.9 2321 2430 1839 2100

Load Rigid steel beam Transducers Load Strain gauges

Transducers
Strain gauges
D/2 D/2

Specimen
D/2 D/2

Lo/2 Lo/2

Specimen
Lo/4 Lo/4 Lo/4 Lo/4

Load case 1 (LC1) Load case 2 (LC2)

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of CFST specimen.

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350 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358

50 50
1 2 3 5
40 4 N1-LC1 40 6 N2-LC1
N1-LC2 N2-LC2

M (kNm)

M (kNm)
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6
φ (1/m) φ (1/m)

50 50

40 40
M (kNm)

M (kNm)
30 30
20 20
7 8 9 11
10 10 N3-LC1 10 12 N4-LC1
N3-LC2 N4-LC2
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6
φ (1/m) φ (1/m)

Fig. 5. Moment (M) versus curvature (f) relation.

50 50
1 2 3 5
40 4 N1-LC1 40 6 N2-LC1
N1-LC2 N2-LC2
M (kNm)

M (kNm)

30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
um (mm) um (mm)

50 50
40 40
M (kNm)

M (kNm)

30 30
20 20
7 8 9 11
10 10 N3-LC1 10 12 N4-LC1
N3-LC2 N4-LC2
0 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
um (mm) um (mm)

Fig. 6. Moment (M) versus deflection (um) relation.

4. Flexural behavior analysis 4.1. Analysis on the load–deformation relation

In order to further investigate the flexural behavior of circular
CFST, a typical thin-walled circular CFST beam, with width-to-
thickness ratio of 47.3, subjected to four-point load scheme is
analyzed. The parameters of the CFST beam are as follows:
0
D ¼ 355 mm, t ¼ 7.5 mm, L0 ¼ 1500, fy ¼ 350 MPa, f c ¼ 60 MPa,
and a ¼ 375 mm. Another circular CFST beam with the same
parameters, except the thickness of the steel tube which is
4.65 mm and the width-to-thickness ratio 75, is also calculated to
investigate the effect of width-to-thickness ratio on the resisting
moments and interaction of steel and concrete.
The predicted moment versus curvature curve is shown in Fig.
12. Several characteristic points are also shown on the curve, in
which point A is corresponding to initial cracking of concrete. At
point B and point C moment reaches 20% and 60% of the flexural
capacity. Points D and E are corresponding to the initial yield of
steel tube at tensile and compressive side, respectively. At point F
and point G, the strain in the steel tube at the tensile side reaches
0.01 and 0.02. It is clear from the curve that structural response of
the circular CFST beam has an obvious elastic (OD), elastic–plastic
(DF), and plastic (FG) stage.
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H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358 351

50 50
1 2 3 5
40 4 N1-LC1 40 6 N2-LC1
N1-LC2

M (kNm)

M (kNm)
N2-LC2
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0 10000 20000 30000 0 10000 20000 30000
+ () + ()

50 50
40 40

M (kNm)
M (kNm)

30 30
20 20
7 8 9 11
10 10 N3-LC1 10 12 N4-LC1
N4-LC2
N3-LC2 0
0
0 10000 20000 30000 0 10000 20000 30000
+ () + ()

Fig. 7. Moment (M) versus strain at mid-span extreme tensile fiber (e+) relation.

50 50
1 2 3 5
40 4 N1-LC1 40 6 N2-LC1
N1-LC2 N2-LC2
M (kNm)

M (kNm)

30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000
- () - ()

50 50

40 40
M (kNm)

M (kNm)

30 30

20 20
7 8 9 11
10 10 N3-LC1 10 12 N4-LC1
N3-LC2 N4-LC2
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000
- () - ()

Fig. 8. Moment (M) versus strain at mid-span extreme compressive fiber (e) relation.

In the elastic stage, moment increases sharply, whereas
increase in curvature is very limited. On the other hand,
there is a linear relation between moment and curvature in this
stage. Flexural stiffness at B and C is corresponding to initial
and service-level flexural stiffness. It is clear that cracking of
concrete at the tensile side occurs when moment approaches
point B. Theoretically speaking, CFST beam behaves elastically
only before cracking of concrete. However, the CFST beam
shows a well elastic behavior up to C point and till the yield
of steel tube at the tensile side (D point). Cracking of concrete
indeed results in degradation of flexural stiffness of the CFST
beam. However, there is bond and/or friction at the interface of
steel and concrete. This interaction effectively hinders the
development of a crack along the depth of the CFST beam;
instead, cracks are allowed to develop uniformly at the tensile side
of concrete along the pure bending zone of the CFST beam. On the
other hand, cracking of concrete causes reduction in the tensile
stress of concrete. But such reduction is compensated by the
increase in stress of steel at the tensile side through the
interaction of steel and concrete. Noticeable gain in stress in steel
can continue till yield of the steel. So, reduction in flexural
stiffness of the CFST beam between initial cracking of concrete
and tensile yield of steel is not significant, i.e. the behavior
remains elastic.
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352 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358

50 50
1 2 3 5
40 4 N1-LC1 40 6 N2-LC1

M (kNm)

M (kNm)
N1-LC2 N2-LC2
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000
a () a ()

50 50
40 40
M (kNm)

M (kNm)
30 30
20 20
7 8 9 11
10 10 N3-LC1 10 12 N4-LC1
N3-LC2 N4-LC2
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000
a () a ()

Fig. 9. Moment (M) versus strain at the mid-height on mid-span section (ea) relation.

Typical failure mode of CFST beam

(i) Observed (ii) Predicted

Failure modes of in-filled concrete

Concrete

Cracks in
concrete
Specimen Direction of
maximum plastic
Tube
strain

(i) Observed (ii) Predicted

Failure mode of unfilled steel hollow section

(i) Observed [5] (ii) Predicted

Fig. 10. Typical failure modes.

In the elastic–plastic stage, deformation of the CFST beam
accelerates compared to the elastic stage after the yield of tensile
steel, and as soon as the yield of steel in the compressive zone
occurs, increase in curvature of the CFST beam becomes notice-
able. There is no doubt that the yield of steel at the tensile side
results in acceleration in degradation of flexural stiffness of the
CFST beam, whereas steel and concrete in the compressive zone
offer strong support to resist deformation of the CFST beam till the
yield of the steel in the compressive zone. Yield of steel at both
tensile and compressive sides allows more deformation of the
CFST beam. At the same time, confinement on compressive
concrete decreases with the yield of steel in the compressive
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H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358 353

50 to show ovalization. However, for CFST beams, the in-filled concrete

Han et al. (2006) effectively prevents the buckling and ovalization of the steel hollow
section. The core concrete braces the steel hollow section to resist
Prion et al. (1994)
the local transverse deformation in the steel hollow section.
40 Elchalakani et al. (2001) Therefore, plasticity of steel along the longitudinal direction can
be fully developed. Such full development in plasticity in steel is
important for capacity and ductility of CFST beams.
The development of cracks in core concrete in CFST beam is
30
shown in Fig. 13. It is found that the crack of concrete at the tensile
Muc (kNm)

side distributes uniformly in the pure bending segment of the

CFST beam when the moment is about 20% of the flexural
capacity, except the two obvious cracks close to the load points.
20
Then, cracks close to the load points develop more rapidly than
Total number 34 others in the pure bending segment till the yield of tensile steel.
Muc/Mue: There are several other clusters of cracks that propagate in the
10 pure bending segment when the beam attains its flexural capacity.
Mean 0.927 With further increase in load, more and more cracks propagate in
the pure bending segment. It can also be seen that cracks
COV 0.127 propagate gradually toward the neutral axis. There are no obvious
0 shear cracks in the shear span.
0 10 20 30 40 50
Mue (kNm)
4.3. Development of stress
Fig. 11. Comparison of predicted and test moment capacity.
Deformation of the CFST beam increases with the increase in
the external load. The stresses in steel and concrete generally
600 follow such tendency. However, when stress of concrete and steel
attains their limitations, i.e. yield of steel and crush or cracking of
500 concrete, there is no more increase in stresses with further
increase in deformation. Instead, there is stress redistribution
between steel and concrete in the CFST beam.
400 The Mises and longitudinal stress at the tensile side of the steel
G
M (kNm)

F tube (points 4 and 5) as well as top compressive fiber (point 1)

E
300 increase rapidly in the early stage of loading, as shown in Fig. 14.
D
There is a delay in rise of stresses of steel at middle height of the
C CFST section (point 3), because its position is the closest to the
200
neutral axial. After the yield of steel in these positions, there is a
D=355, t=7.5, L0=1500, a=375
little increase in stresses because of the stain-hardening effect of
100 fy=350 MPa, f ’c=60 MPa steel. It is also clear from Fig. 14 that stresses at some parts of
B
A compressive steel (point 2) do not yield in the whole loading
0 process. Stress at these parts of steel can still rise moderately after
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 the yield of steel in bottom tensile and top compressive extreme
 (1/m) fiber of the steel tube. The circumferential stress in the steel tube
is very small in the initial stage till the yield of steel in the tensile
Fig. 12. Typical moment–curvature curve for circular CFST.
zone and then increases steadily and tends to become stable
finally. This implies that concrete and steel work independently in
zone. After the yield of compressive steel, there is still a moderate the initial loading stage.
increase in resistant moment. This is mainly due to the gradual Figs. 15 and 16 show development of longitudinal stress in
development in yielding of steel from the bottom and top fibers concrete at mid-span section and the whole concrete. There is not
toward the neutral axis. so much change in the pattern of longitudinal stress distribution
The resistant moment of the CFST beam in the plastic stage can along the longitudinal direction of the beam. However, the
still have a little increase. However, curvature of the beam maximum compressive stress increases and the concrete tensile
increases dramatically. The potential increase in resistant moment zone develop gradually toward the support points with the increase
is due to the strain hardening of steel and stress redistribution in in load. Furthermore, it can be found that the neutral axis moves
the CFST beam. The structural response of the CFST beam in this gradually up. There is a strong compressive stress near the load
stage can be seen as a beam with a ‘‘plastic hinge’’ at the mid-span points, which is as high as 115 MPa, as shown in Fig. 16. This is
of the beam. induced by the local stress concentration near the load points
rather than the overall structural response. The maximum long-
4.2. Analysis on failure mode of CFST beams itudinal compressive stress initiates at the top point of the section
and develops as a zone extending toward radial and circumferential
Typical failure modes of CFST beams and corresponding unfilled directions. Finally, maximum longitudinal compressive stress
steel hollow section are shown in Fig. 10. It is clear that the infilling occurs at edge of the section, which is approximately correspond-
concrete in the steel hollow section totally changes the failure ing to point 2 in Fig. 15. Such movement in the position of
mode of the beams. The unfilled steel hollow section fails with a maximum compressive stress can be further illustrated in Fig. 16. It
local buckling in the compressive zone near the mid-span section. is found that there is a gradual drop in longitudinal compressive
At the same time, the tensile zone near the mid-span section tends stress at the top point of the section, after the stress has attained its
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354 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358

Fig. 13. Cracking mode of concrete: (a) when moment reaches 20% of the moment capacity (steel tensile strain, 1.54  105); (b) when yield of tensile steel occurs (steel
tensile strain, 1.7  104); (c) when moment reaches moment capacity (steel tensile strain, 0.01); (d) when steel tensile strain equals 0.02.

Mises stress 30
500 0
Yield of steel 1
Stress (N/mm2)

400 -30
1 1
Stress (N/mm2)

1 2 2
2 2
300 -60 3
3 3 4
3
4 -90 4
200 4 5 5 5
Cylinder strength of
100 5 -120 unconfined concrete
-150
0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
 (1/m)
 (1/m)
Fig. 15. Longitudinal stress of concrete at the mid-span section.
Longitudinal stress
500
400 peak stress. It should also be noted that the peak stress at the top
300 point of the section occurs after the CFST beam attains its flexural
Stress (N/mm2)

1 capacity (point F in Fig. 12). This indicates that there is obvious

200 Yield of steel 1 2
100 2 stress redistribution in the compressive zone of concrete during the
0 3 3 loading process. On the other hand, the peak compressive stress at
-100 4 the top of compressive zone is found about 76 MPa, which is
4 5
-200 markedly higher than cylinder strength of the concrete. It is the
-300 5 confinement of the steel on the concrete that contributes to such
-400 enhancement in the compressive strength of concrete.
-500 It can be clearly seen from the development of stresses in steel
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 and concrete that the interaction between steel and concrete
 (1/m) significantly affects the stress distribution in the CFST beam.
circumferential stress Confinement of steel on the compressive concrete results in
500 concrete in triple-axial compressive stress. Thus, the peak long-
400 itudinal stress of compressive concrete enhances by about 30% of
300 cylinder strength. However, the confinement is passive and
Yield of steel 1 depends on stress state in the steel as well. The confinement
Stress (N/mm2)

200 1 2
100 2 weakens when steel yields. On the other hand, the interaction of
0 3 3 steel and concrete also offers possibility for stress redistribution
4 in the CFST beam. The maximum compressive stress of steel and
-100 4 5
concrete in the mid-span cross-section shifts down to somewhere
-200 5 from top of the section.
-300
-400 4.4. Development of resisting moments
-500
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
 (1/m) The resistant moments contributed by steel and concrete at the
mid-span section for CFST beams with width-to-thickness ratios
Fig. 14. Stress at the mid-span section of steel tube. of 47 and 75 are shown in Fig. 17. It can be found that both
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358 355

When yield of tensile steel occurs (strain at tensile steel 1.7×10-4)

Neutral
axial

When yield of compressive steel occurs (strain at tensile steel 2.9×10-3)

Neutral
axial

When moment reaches moment capacity (strain at tensile steel 0.01)

Neutral
axial

When strain at tensile steel equals to 0.02

Neutral
axial

Fig. 16. Development of longitudinal stress of concrete at the mid-span section.

concrete and steel make significant contribution to the resistant
moment of the CFST beams.
For CFST beam with a width-to-thickness ratio of 47, the
resisting moment of steel rises rapidly till the yield of compressive
steel and then tends to be stable. However, resisting moment of
concrete increases steadily in the initial stage, even after the
compressive stress of concrete at the top of the section has
attained its peak value. It is clear that steel affects significantly
not only the strength of the CFST beam but also the stiffness
of the beam. However, after the steel yield in compression,
increase in total moment capacity mainly depends on the
contribution of concrete till the CFST beam attains its flexural
capacity. The resisting moments remain stable even when the
beam is beyond the flexural capacity, and the beam exhibits good
ductility in this stage. This is mainly due to the redistribution of
compressive stress in concrete and steel, which maintains the
resistant moments while undergoing large deformation. On the
other hand, the resisting moment in the unfilled steel hollow
section beam rises rapidly in the early stage of deformation and
then tends to be stable and descends finally. The peak resisting
moment of the unfilled steel hollow section beam is almost the
same as resistant moment contributed by steel tube in the CFST
beam. However, the ductility of the CFST beam is several times
higher than that of the unfilled steel hollow section beam.
Comparing the failure modes in Fig. 10, it is conclusive that local
buckling of steel in unfilled steel hollow section beam results in
loss of bearing capacity of the whole beam and thus hinders full
development of plasticity along the longitudinal direction in steel
hollow section.
Development of resisting moments for CFST beam with a
width-to-thickness ratio of 75 is generally similar to the one with
a width-to-thickness ratio of 47. However, ductility of the CFST
beam is remarkably lower than that of the CFST beam with
smaller width-to-thickness ratio. Flexural capacity of the CFST
beam is lower than that of the CFST beam with a width-to-
thickness ratio of 47 as well. The resisting moment of unfilled
steel hollow section beam with a width-to-thickness ratio of 75
drops as soon as it reaches the peak value.
Therefore, it is clear that the presence of concrete in CFST
benefits not only the flexural capacity but also the ductility of the
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356 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358

CFST beam with D/t=47.3 CFST beam with D/t=47.3

600 15
D=355 mm, t=7.5mm, L0=1500, D=355 mm, t=7.5mm, L0= 1500,

Contact pressure (N/mm2)

500 fy=350 MPa, f ’c=60 MPa, a=375. fy=350 MPa, f ’c=60 MPa, a=375 mm.
1 1 2
400 Mtotal 10
2
M (kNm)

Ms 3
300 3
Mc 4
4 5
200 Munfilled 5
5
100

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
 (1/m)  (1/m)

CFST beam with D/t=75 CFST beam with D/t=75

400 10
D=355 mm, t=4.65mm, L0= 1500, D=355 mm, t=4.65mm, L0= 1500,

Contact pressure (N/mm2)

fy=350 MPa, f’c=60 MPa, a=375. fy=350 MPa, f ’c=60 MPa, a=375 mm.
300 7.5 1
1 2
Mtotal
M (kNm)

2
Ms 3
200 5 3
4
Mc 4 5
100 Munfilled 2.5 5

0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30
 (1/m)  (1/m)
Fig. 17. Resistant moment at the mid-span section. Fig. 18. Contact pressure of steel–concrete interface at the mid-span section.

CFST beam. The smaller the width-to-thickness ratio, the higher
are the flexural capacity and ductility of the CFST beam.
4.5. Interaction of steel and concrete
The pressure between steel and concrete interface at the mid-
span section of the CFST beams is shown in Fig. 18. It is found that
there is no pressure at the interface in the initial stage of loading.
This indicates no interaction between steel and concrete, i.e.
concrete and steel work independently. In the elastic stage,
Poisson’s ratio of steel is greater than that of concrete. So, there is
a detaching tendency in concrete and steel interface in this stage.
Pressure in the interface of steel and concrete begin to develop as
concrete and steel enter elastic–plastic stage. The external load is
applied on the upper steel tube and cause the downward
deformation of the whole CFST beam. So, it is not surprising that
pressure at the top zone of the cross-section develops earlier than
that at the bottom zone. It can be seen that pressure in the
interface generally develops and then maintains stability. The
maximum pressure at the compressive zone is about 5 and 2 MPa
for CFST beams with width-to-thickness ratios of 47 and 75,
respectively, which is similar to that in CFST under pure torsion
[16], whereas maximum pressure at extreme tensile (point 5) is as
high as 9 and 6 MPa. Point 5 undergoes most serious straining and
cracking of concrete in the section. The volume strain of concrete
at this point is higher than anywhere in the section. Meanwhile,
the cracked concrete in the tensile zone still effectively resists to
the ovalization of steel tube in this zone, although it may crack
seriously and contribute little to the moment capacity of CFST
beams. All these factors results in a high pressure between steel
and concrete at the extreme tensile zone of the CFST beam.
Comparing contact pressure between CFST beams with
different width-to-thickness ratios in Fig. 18, it is found the CFST
beam with lower width-to-thickness ratio has higher contact
pressure between steel and concrete interface. In other words,
there is a stronger confinement of steel hollow section on core
concrete in the CFST beam with lower width-to-thickness ratio.
The ductility and strength of concrete under compression are
pressure dependent. Higher pressure results in higher ductility
and strength of compressive concrete. Thus, the compressive
concrete can make greater contribution to the ductility of the CFST
beam and capacity as well.
4.6. Load transfer mechanism in CFST beam
A load transfer mechanism model for CFST beam was proposed
by Lu and Kennedy [9], as shown in Fig. 20(a). In this model, load
transfer in shear span is simplified to a tired arch. This will be
evaluated in this section by examining the stress distribution in
the beam.
It is clear that compressive concrete and both tensile and
compressive steel contribute together to the flexural capacity of
the CFST beam, whereas cracked concrete makes little contribu-
tion. Through identification of the maximum stress zone and
orientation of the compressive concrete as well as those of steel in
the CFST beams, the load transfer path in the beam can be
affirmed. Typical vector symbol of maximum compressive stress
in concrete, maximum compressive and tensile stress in steel tube
are shown in Fig. 19. Here, the arrow of the vector symbol
represents the direction of the stress, the length of the vector
symbol represents the magnitude of the stress and density of the
vector symbol represents the distribution of the stress. It can be
found that maximum stresses distribute differently in pure
bending and shear span segments. Maximum compressive stress
of concrete is situated at the top of the section along the
longitudinal direction of the beam in the pure bending segment.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358
But, maximum compressive stress of concrete in the shear span
segment is obviously along the line connecting load and support
points and distributes in a wider range. The quantity of maximum
compressive stress of concrete in the shear span is generally lower
than that in the pure bending segment. The maximum compressive
stress in steel tube normally distributes similar to that in concrete;
however, there is only a little compressive stress in the shear span
segment. Contrary to maximum compressive stress, maximum
tensile stress in steel tube situates at the bottom of the section, and
there is also strong tensile stress in the shear span segment which
is along the line connecting the tensile side of the section at loading
point and the compressive side of the section at the support.
Based on the load transfer path in concrete and steel in the
beam, a reasonable model to illustrate the load transfer mechan-
ism in CFST beam is a strut–tie model which is shown in Fig. 20(b)
together with the tired-arch model proposed by Lu and Kennedy
[9]. There is a tie at the bottom of the section representing the
contribution of steel at tensile zone. It should be noted that
contribution of concrete in the tensile zone is neglected due to
low tensile stress in concrete after cracking. The compressive strut
in the pure bending segment is at the top of the section along the
longitudinal direction of the beam and consists of the contribu-
tion of both concrete and steel at the compressive zone. It is clear
from Fig. 19 that only minor compressive stress exists in steel tube
in the shear span, whereas there is a strong compression of
concrete in the segment. So, the compressive strut in the shear
span depends on the concrete. Due to the compressive concrete
distributing in a wide range in the shear span, the struts are
simulated by AB, BC, and AD, where A and C represent the load
and support point, respectively. The diagonal tension tie, BD,
represents the oblique tensile stress in steel in the shear span. The
tensile stress in the diagonal tension tie can be decomposed in
two directions, longitudinal and circumferential. Shear force in
Fig. 19. Maximum stresses in CFST beam.
357
Tierd-arch model [9]
Strut-tie model
B A N
θ
C D N
Tie (tension) Strut (or arch) (compression)
Fig. 20. Load transfer for CFST beam.
the section N–N is sustained by circumferential component of
tension force in the diagonal tie.
It is also found that the strut–tie load transfer mechanism is
applicable for beams investigated in this paper, in which the
shear-span-to-depth ratio varies from 1.5 to 6.0.
The strut–tie model can be used to predict the flexural capacity
of the CFST beam. Fig. 21 shows the diagram for calculation the
moment capacity of circular CFST beam in EC4 [24]. The circular
CFST section is divided into three zones, zones A, B, and C.
Distance of the plastic neutral axis from the central line is hn. Due
to the symmetry, the tensile force in zone A equals the
compressive force in zone C:
F s1 ¼ F s3 . (4)
Through the force equilibrium condition in the section, it is easy
to find that
F c1 ¼ F s2 . (5)
The compressive force in the strut and tensile force in the tie in
pure bending segment can be calculated by the following
formulation:
F strut ¼ F s1 þ F c1 , (6)
F tie ¼ F s2 þ F s3 ¼ F c1 þ F s3 . (7)
Using the formulations in EC4 [21], it is easy to calculate the
forces for strut and tie in circular CFST beam, and thus the
moment capacity of the beam.
4.7. Effect of shear-span-to-depth ratio on flexural behavior
It is well known that behavior of RC deep beam is different
from that of normal RC beam. RC beam with a shear-span-to-
depth ratio less than 3 is generally defined as RC deep beam. Shear
cracking and shear capacity in the shear span of the deep beam
dominate the behavior of the RC deep beam. Unlike shear cracking
in concrete in normal RC beams, shear cracks in RC deep beams
initiate from the beam web about half way of the load point and
support. Then, the cracks propagate toward the load point and the
support [23]. The cracks are caused by the tensile stress, which is
perpendicular to the cracks. In such case, the stirrup is almost no
benefit to shear capacity of the beams or prevent further
propagation of the cracks because the angle between the shear
cracks and the stirrup is small.
The steel tube in the CFST beam acts continuously as stirrup
like that in an RC beam to resist the shear force in the shear span.
The longitudinal continuity in the steel tube makes it much
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
358 H. Lu et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 47 (2009) 346–358
A Fc1
hn M γ
B Fs2
hn ri ro
C Fs3
Fig. 21. Diagram for calculation of flexural moment capacity of circular CFST beam.
stronger than stirrup in RC beams, with the ability to sustain both
vertical and longitudinal force in the shear span. This can be
clearly seen in Fig. 19 that there is a strong tensile stress in steel
tube in the shear span inclined to the longitudinal direction of the
CFST beam, which is represented by the diagonal tie in Fig. 20.
Shear force in the CFST beam is mostly sustained by the steel
rather than by concrete in the shear span. The shear stress in the
concrete remains at a low level. So, it is not surprising that there is
no obvious shear cracking of concrete in the shear span observed
in the test. This can be further explained by the strut–tie model
shown in Fig. 20. The orientation of tension stress causing the
shear crack is perpendicular to the crack, which is almost the
same direction as the diagonal tie. The diagonal tie can offer
strong restraint to prevent potential shear crack in the concrete.
Oblique angle of the diagonal tie, y, increases with the decrease in
shear span. The diagonal tie tends to orientate parallel to the
stress, potentially causing shear crack in the shear span. This
implies that the diagonal tie can effectively sustain shear force
and offer strong restraining on concrete to prevent shear crack
regardless the variation in shear span. There is no significant
difference in the flexural behavior of CFST when the shear-span-
to-depth ratio varies from 1.5 to 6.0 in this investigation due to the
continuity of the steel tube in longitudinal direction and the
interaction of steel and concrete in CFST beams.
5. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn based on the limited
research reported in the paper.
(1) A FEA modeling to study the flexural performance of CFST
beam is proposed. The predicted load versus deformation
curves, failure modes and bending capacities were compared
with those obtained from tests and a reasonable agreement
was achieved. The FEA modeling was used to investigate the
stress and strain distributions across the composite section in
the whole loading procedure.
(2) There is a significant pressure at the steel–concrete interface
after the composite beams reach elastic–plastic stage, in
which the pressure at extreme tensile zone is the highest in
the section.
(3) Interaction of steel and concrete in the composite beam offers
possibility for stress redistribution in steel and concrete,
which makes the composite beam to have high flexural
capacity and ductility.
(4) A strut–tie model was proposed for the load transfer
mechanism of circular composite member in bending. This
model was based on a thorough analysis of stress distribution.
It was concluded from the mechanism analysis that the shear-
span-to-depth ratio has no significant influence on the
behaviors of the CFST beams with circular sections.
fy f’c
Fs1
Plastic Neutral
M axis
fy
Acknowledgments
The research reported in the paper is part of Project 50425823
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The financial supports are highly appreciated. This paper was
completed during the second author’s visiting to Monash
University as a visiting professor.
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