Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Building Engineering

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jobe

Behavior of ECC-encased CFST columns under eccentric loading

Jingming Cai a, b, Jinlong Pan a, *, Jiawei Tan b, Brecht Vandevyvere b, Xiaopeng Li c
a
Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structures of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Bruges, Belgium
c
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this paper, the eccentric load behavior of engineered cementitious composite (ECC)-encased concrete filled
ECC steel tube (CFST) is analyzed based on ABAQUS/standard solver. A finite element (FE) model was established
Composite columns with consideration of different constitutive models, and the accuracy of proposed FE model was verified with
Finite element analysis
experimental results. Failure mechanisms of ECC-encased CFST columns under eccentric loading were investi­
Eccentric loading
gated; it was found that the eccentricity ratio has a great influence on the failure processes of the composite
column, also the confinement effect decreased as eccentricity ratio increased. Based on the proposed FE model,
parameter analysis was conducted to investigate the influences of different material strength and sectional di­
mensions. Based on stress analysis from the proposed FE model, a theoretical model for predicting sectional
capacity of ECC-encased CFST columns has also been proposed and verified.

1. Introduction
ECC, which is short for engineered cementitious composite, is a kind
of novel fiber reinforced cementitious material which has gained
increasing attention from researchers and engineers in recent years. Due
to its unique multiple-cracking and strain-hardening behaviors, different
structural composite members containing ECC material have been pro­
posed and investigated, such as steel reinforced ECC beams [1], steel
reinforced ECC columns [2], FRP reinforced ECC composite beams [3].
It was found that ECC composite members have both higher ductility
and strength under static and quasi-static loading. Additionally, ECC
composite members may be much safer and more durable than con­
ventional concrete composite members, since ECC materials have better
fire resistance [4,5] and durability [6,7].
As a typical ECC composite member, ECC-encased concrete filled
steel tube (CFST) column has been proposed and investigated by the
authors recently. The ECC-encased CFST column was consisted of two
parts, i.e., the inner CFST component and outer steel reinforced ECC (R/
ECC) component. Compared with conventional CFST columns, the outer
R/ECC component could serve as a protective layer, which can greatly
improve its fire resistance and durability. Compared with the R/ECC
column, the inner CFST column increases its stiffness and also decreases
its cost since ECC materials generally show lower elastic modulus and
have a higher price [8]. For ECC-encased CFST columns under both
uniaxial and eccentric compressive loading, it was found that the com­
posite columns failed in a ductile mode with about 30% higher
compressive strength than concrete-encased CFST columns [9,10]. For
ECC-encased CFST columns under cyclic loading, results showed that
ECC-encased CFST column has higher ductility and doubled cumulative
energy dissipation compared with same-sized concrete-encased CFST
columns [11]. The typical failure modes for ECC and concrete-encased
CFST columns are shown in Fig. 1. It can be inferred that ECC-encased
CFST column have better composite effects than concrete-encased
CFST column. However, due to the limited number of test specimens,
the failure mechanism as well as the influences of different parameters
on the mechanical behaviors of ECC-encased CFST columns still need
more investigation.
Set against this background, the eccentric behaviors of ECC-encased
CFST columns were investigated in this paper. The finite element (FE)
model was established and the constitutive models for different mate­
rials were explored. After the FE model was verified with the experiment
results, the influences of different parameters were investigated.
2. Finite element analysis (FEA) modeling
The FE model of ECC-encased CFST column under eccentric loading
is shown in Fig. 2, which is based on the ABAQUS/standard solver. In
this model, the nonlinear behavior of each material as well as the contact
behavior of each component was fully considered.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cejlpan@seu.edu.cn (J. Pan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101188
Received 24 September 2019; Received in revised form 12 January 2020; Accepted 13 January 2020
Available online 18 January 2020
2352-7102/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

Nomenclature E0 elasticity modulus of ECC

Es elasticity modulus of steel
αs steel ratio of CFST Ec elasticity modulus of concrete
αl longitudinal reinforcement ratio f ’c cylinder strength of concrete
β stirrup confinement index for ECC fck characteristic strength of core concrete
σtc first cracking strength of ECC f ’ce cylinder strength of ECC
εtc first cracking strain of ECC fyv yield strength of stirrup
εt ultimate tensile strain of ECC
fy yield strength of steel
εcp peak strain of ECC
f ty yield strength of steel tube
A cross-sectional area of ECC-encased CFST column
Ac cross-sectional area of concrete Ie stirrup confinement index
As cross-sectional area of steel tube k confinement coefficient
Al cross-sectional area of longitudinal bar Nu ultimate axial load of ECC-encased CFST column
Asc cross-sectional area of inner CFST Mu ultimate moment of ECC-encased CFST column
B side length of column s stirrup spacing
D outer diameter of steel tube t thickness of steel tube
De eccentric distance Vs volume of stirrup
dcor the thickness of ECC layer confined by stirrup VE volume of ECC

As shown in Fig. 2, the composite column consists different types of 0.2fy /ðεe1 εe Þ2 , B ¼ 2Aεe1 , C ¼ 0.8fy þAε2e -Bεe , fy and ES are the yield
materials, such as core concrete, steel, normal unconfined ECC and stress and elastic modulus of steel.
stirrup confined ECC. The constitutive model for each material has a
tremendous influence on the accuracy of FE model.
2.2. Constitutive model for core concrete

2.1. Constitutive model for steel Unlike normal concrete, the core concrete in ECC-encased CFST
column was confined by steel tube which has both higher ductility and
All the steel components, including longitudinal reinforcement, strength. The constitutive model proposed by Tao et al. [13] which
stirrup and steel tube, are described with the same constitutive model considered the confinement effect during different stages was applied in
due to its isotropic behaviors. In this paper, a five-stage constitutive this paper, as shown in Fig. 4. It was noticed that the confinement effect
model shown in Fig. 3 was applied to characterize the elastoplastic decreased with the increase of eccentricity, thus the eccentricity ratio
behavior of steel [12], which is expressed as follows: was also considered in the constitutive model [14].
During the initial stage from Point O to Point A, the constitutive
8 Es εs εs < εe
> model for core concrete was given by:
>
>
>
> Aε2s þ Bεs þ C εe < εs � εe1
>
> σ AX þ BX 2
>
>
< ¼ 0 < ε � εc0 (2)
fy εe1 < εs � εe2 f ’c 1 þ ðA 2ÞX þ ðB 1ÞX 2
σs ¼ (1)
>
> � �
> εs εe2
where ​ X ¼ εεc0 ; A ¼ Ecfε’ c0 ; B
> A 12
>
>
> fy 1 þ 0:6 εe2 < εs � εe3 ¼ 0:55 1; εc0 ¼
>
> εe3 εe2 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffifficffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
:
1:6fy εs > εe3 0.00076þ ð0:626f ’c 4:33Þ � 10 7 .
During the second stage from Point A to Point B, the constitutive
where εe ¼ 0.8fy =ES , ​ ​ εe1 ¼ 1.5εe , ​ ​ εe2 ¼ 10εe1 , ​ ​ εe3 ¼ 100εe1 , A ¼ model was expressed as:

Fig. 1. Typical failure modes for composite columns under cyclic loading.

2
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

εcc
¼ em εc0 < ε � εcc (3)
εc0
� �0:3124þ0:002f ’c
fB
where m¼ (2.9224–0.00367f ’c ) f ’c
; ​ ​ ​ fB ¼
0:028B
0:25kð1þ0:027fy Þexp t
4:8 ;
1þ1:6�10 10 ðf ’ Þ
c

5e=3
k ¼ 0:12 þ 0:88exp
During the last stage from Point B to point C, the model was
expressed as:
� � h �ε ε �1:2 i
(4)
cc
σ ¼ fr þ f ’c fr exp ε � εcc
α Fig. 3. Typical constitutive model for steel.

1:38kξc 0:036 As fy
where fr ¼ 0:7ð1 exp Þf ’c ; α ¼ 0:04 1þexp6:08kξc 3:49 ; ξc ¼ Ac fck .
5e=3
k ¼ 0:12 þ 0:88exp .
In above formulas, k is the confinement coefficient; e is the eccen­
tricity ratio which was defined as ​ De =B, where De is the eccentric dis­
tance and B is the side length of the composite column; fck and f ’c are the
characteristic and cylinder strength of core concrete, respectively; Ac
and As are the cross-sectional areas of concrete and steel tube,
respectively.
qffiffiffiffi
The elastic modulus (EC ) of concrete was taken as 4730 f ’c and the
Poisson’s ratio of concrete was set as 0.2 according to ACI 318–11 [15].
For composite columns under compressive loading, the tensile consti­
tutive model of concrete was simplified as the fracture energy model
proposed for the convenience of convergence [16].
Fig. 4. Stress–strain curves for core concrete with different eccentricity ratios.
2.3. Constitutive model for ECC
8
The uniaxial compressive stress–strain curve for ECC is shown in > E0 ε ε < 0:4εcp
<
Fig. 5(a), in which the influence of stirrup confinement effect was taken σc ¼ �
εE0
� (5)
>
into account. For those ECC with no stirrup confinement, the ascending : E0 ε 1 0:308 ’ þ 0:124
f ce
0:4εcp < ε � εcp
stage from being elastic to being elastoplastic can be expressed by
Ref. [17]: where f ’ce and E0 ​ are the cylinder strength and elasticity modulus of
ECC. As shown in Fig. 5(a), the bilinear curves were applied to depict the
post-peak behavior of ECC material, the parameters for the curves are
shown in Table 1. It has been reported that ECC possesses a higher

Fig. 2. The FE model and geometry of ECC-encased CFST column.

3
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

Fig. 5. Typical stress–strain curve for ECC.

coefficient for the contact surface between steel tube and core concrete
Table 1
was set as 0.25 [14]. By contrast, it has been reported that ECC and
Material parameters for ECC.
section steel have a higher bond strength due to ECC’s superb ductility
εtc σtc εtu σtu εcp εcu [19]. Thus, the friction coefficient between ECC and steel tube was set as
0.0021 3.2 MPa 0.05 5 MPa 0.005 0.03 0.5 after multiple trials. In addition, compared with normal concrete,
ECC was reported to have a more reliable bond behavior with steel
reinforcement [20]. Therefore, the “Embedded element” was applied to
ductility as well as a higher strength with the confinement of stirrup define the contact behavior between ECC and steel reinforcements.
[18], thus the peak strain (ε’cp ) and peak stress (σ ’cp ) for ECC confined by As shown in Fig. 2, the eccentric loading was applied along the
stirrup are expressed by: loading line with displacement increments. All degrees of freedom for
the loading line, except the axial displacement along Z-axis and rotation
ε’cp ¼ αεcp (6)
around Y-axis, were constrained. A symmetrical bearing line was ar­
ranged at the bottom rigid plate, in which only the rotation around Y-
σ ’cp ¼ βσ cp (7) axis was not constrained.
� �2
7:72Ie 9:37Ie Vsfyv
where α ¼ 1:12e , β ¼ 1:03e , Ie ¼ 12 1 s
2dcor VE f ’ce
. α and β
2.5. Verification of the FE model
are derived from regression analysis with the experimental data pro­
vided by Ref. [18]. Ie is the stirrup confinement index which considered The verifications of the FE model are threefolds. First, the ultimate
the thickness of ECC layer confined by stirrup (dcor ), stirrup spacing (s), eccentric compressive strength extracted from both experiment and FE
yield strength of stirrup (fyv ) as well as the volume of the stirrup (Vs ) and model are shown in Table 2 and the maximum error is lower than 10%.
ECC(VE ). Second, Fig. 6 shows the experimental and simulational load–displace­
As shown in Fig. 5(b), the uniaxial tensile stress–strain curves for ment curves for ECC-encased CFST columns with different eccentricity
ECC was simplified as bilinear curves and could be expressed as: ratios, it can be seen that the accurate prediction of initial stiffness as
8 σ tc well as carrying capacity were obtained. Third, Fig. 7 shows the failure
>
< εtc
ε ε < εtc modes derived from both experiment and FE model. For the specimen
σt ¼ � � (8) with different eccentricity ratios, the simulation result has very similar
> ε εtc
: σ þ ðσ
tc tu σtc Þ εtc < ε � εtu failure modes in both tensile and compressive sides.
εtu εtc
According to the analysis above, it is feasible to simulate the
eccentric behaviors of ECC-encased CFST columns based on the pro­
where σ tc and σtu are the initial cracking strength and ultimate tensile
posed FE model. Therefore, the failure mechanism of the composite
strength of ECC. Correspondingly,εtc and εtu are initial cracking strain
column can be further analyzed.
and ultimate tensile strain of ECC, respectively. The parameters for ECC
under uniaxial tension are also shown in Table 1. The tensile descending
stage of ECC material was not considered according to the uniaxial 3. Failure mechanism
tensile test.
Three typical failure modes, i.e., compression-controlled, tension-
controlled and balanced failure modes were observed and defined pre­
2.4. Modeling process and boundary conditions viously [10]. The proposed FE model was further applied to analyze the
failure mechanism of ECC-encased CFST columns with different failure
The FE model of ECC-encased CFST column under eccentric loading modes.
is shown in Fig. 2. Two rigid plates with infinite stiffness were attached
on both ends of the composite columns. The “Tie contact” was applied to
Table 2
define the interactions between composite column and rigid plates. The
The comparison of eccentric compressive strength.
element type of C3D8R was applied to define both rigid plates and
Specimens Experimental (Ne ) Simulation (Nf ) Nf /Ne
composite column.
The steel tube has two contact surfaces with both core concrete and C1-0.2 3671 3536 0.96
outer ECC. The “Hard contact” was adopted to define the normal di­ C1-0.4 2768 2643 0.95
rection between steel tube and ECC while the “Mohr–Coulomb friction C1-0.6 1846 1711 0.93
C1-0.8 1178 1130 0.96
model” was adopted to define the tangential direction. The friction

4
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

Fig. 6. Comparison of load–displacement curves.

Fig. 7. Comparison of failure model between experiment and FE model.

Fig. 8. The stress development of longitudinal reinforcement.

5
J. Cai et al.
3.1. Longitudinal reinforcement
The stress development for the longitudinal reinforcement at both
tensile and compressive sides are shown in Fig. 8, in which the abscissa
indicates the axial displacement of the composite column while the
ordinate represents the stress of the longitudinal reinforcement. In
addition, the axial displacement corresponding to the peak load of the
composite column was plotted as a dashed line.
For the composite column that features compression-controlled
failure mode, as shown in Fig. 8(a), it was noticed that the longitudi­
nal reinforcement at the compressive side yielded obviously earlier than
that at tensile side. When the axial displacement was 2.3 mm, the lon­
gitudinal reinforcement at compressive side yielded. By contrast, the
longitudinal reinforcement at tensile side is still under its elastoplastic
phase.
For the composite column that features balanced failure mode, as
shown in Fig. 8(b), the yielding of longitudinal reinforcement at both
tensile and compressive sides were almost simultaneous as the com­
posite column reached its peak load. This conclusion is also consistent
with the previous experimental results in Ref. [10].
For the composite column that features tension-controlled failure
mode, as shown in Fig. 8(c), the longitudinal reinforcement at tensile
side yielded before the peak load. After that, the load gradually trans­
ferred to the compressive side and the longitudinal reinforcement at
compressive side yielded after the composite column reached its peak
load.
3.2. Steel tube
The stress development of steel tubes are shown in Fig. 9, in which
the abscissa is the axial displacement of the composite column and the
ordinate is the stress of the steel tube. The stress development for both
compressive and tensile sides of the steel tube were plotted with
different colors.
For the composite column that features compression-controlled
failure mode, as shown in Fig. 9(a), both tensile and compressive sides
of the steel tube were under compressive stress initially. With the in­
crease of axial displacement, the steel tube in the compressive side
gradually yielded before the peak load of the composite column. By
contrast, the steel tube in the tensile side was governed by tensile stress
and yielded as the composite column reached its peak load. For com­
posite columns features balanced failure mode, as shown in Fig. 9(b), the
tensile side of the steel tube was under tensile stress initially and then
the steel tube in both tensile and compressive sides yielded as the
composite column reached its peak load. For the composite columns that
features tension-controlled failure mode, as shown in Fig. 9(c), the yield
of the steel tube in the tensile side was further advanced before the
composited column reached its peak load.
Fig. 9. The stress development of steel tube.
6
Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188
3.3. Contact stress
The steel tube contacted with both core concrete and ECC compo­
nent, thus two different types of contact stress were shown in Fig. 10.
The contact stress P1 was defined as the contact between steel tube and
inner concrete, and P2 is defined as the contact stress between steel tube
and ECC component. Three typical positions were selected as shown in
Fig. 11, where Point 1 and Point 3 are typical points in tensile and
compressive sides, respectively.
3.3.1. The contact stress between steel tube and core concrete (P1)
The contact stress between steel tube and core concrete for different
composite columns are shown in Fig. 12.
For the composite column that features compression-controlled
failure mode, as shown in Fig. 12(a), the P1 value at different loca­
tions were all constant as zero during the initial stage because the
Poisson’s ratio of the steel tube was slightly higher than the core con­
crete thus the steel tube gradually departed from core concrete. As the
axial displacement increased, P1 at different locations increased gradu­
ally. Among these different points, the tensile contact stress (Point 1) is
the largest with a peak contact stress of 14.3 MPa. This is because the
tensile side of core concrete might crack during the initial stage thus the
steel tube would have a higher confinement effect on the plastic defor­
mation of the core concrete in the tensile side.
For the composite column that featured balanced failure mode, as
shown in Fig. 12(b), P1 at different locations were constant as zero
during the initial stage. When the axial displacement was 2 mm, P1 at
different locations increased gradually. The contact stress in the
compressive side (Point 3) almost kept constant after the composite
column reached its peak load, while the contact stress in the tensile side
(Point 1) is about three times higher than that in the compressive side. In
can be inferred that the core concrete was subjected to uneven hoop
constrain, where concrete in the tensile side was more effectively con­
strained than in the compressive side.
For the composite column that features tension-controlled failure
mode, as shown in Fig. 12(c), P1 at the different locations were kept as
zero during the initial stage. As the axial displacement increased, the
contact stress began to increase slowly. However, the peak contact stress
was only about 5 MPa, which is significantly lower than Fig. 12(a) and
(b). It can be seen that for ECC-encased CFST columns that featured
tension-controlled failure mode, the core concrete was not effectively
confined by steel tube. This result is consistent with the constitutive
model of core concrete applied in this paper, in which the influence of
eccentricity ratio was considered, as shown in Eq. (3) and Eq. (4). The
eccentricity has great influences on the mechanical behaviours of con­
crete composite columns, which also have been reported by other re­
searchers [21,22].
3.3.2. The contact stress between steel tube and ECC (P2)
The contact stress between steel tube and ECC are shown in Fig. 13.
J. Cai et al.
Fig. 10. Type of contact stress.
Fig. 11. Typical locations of steel tube.
The maximum value for P2 was only 5 MPa, which is much lower than
the contact stress between steel tube and core concrete (P1).
For the composite column that featured compression-controlled
failure mode, as shown in Fig. 13(a), P2 was very low during the
initial stage, indicating the confinement effect was negligible during the
initial stage. When the axial displacement was about 7 mm, the contact
stress in the compressive side (Point 3) increased rapidly. This is because
the steel tube in the compressive side exhibited local outward buckling
and the steel tube was re-contacted with ECC component. When the
axial displacement was about 14 mm, the contact stress in the tensile
side (Point 1) increased rapidly. This is because the steel tube in the
tensile side exhibited a large degree of outward buckling and then was
Fig. 12. Distribution of contact stress P1 at different locations.
7
Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188
confined by ECC component. By contrast, the contact stress at Point 2
was constantly kept at 0.2 MPa. It can be concluded that confinement
effect between steel tube and ECC was also not uniform.
For the composite column that features balanced failure mode, as
shown in Fig. 13(b), the contact stress was significantly reduced
compared with the results shown in Fig. 13(a). The contact stress be­
tween steel tube and ECC were negligible during the initial stage. When
the axial displacement of the composite column reached 4 mm, the
contact stress in the compressive side increased rapidly. This is because
of the local outward buckling of steel tube. When the axial displacement
was about 10 mm, the composite column reached its peak load and the
contact stress in the compressive side reduced significantly and then
maintained at about 1.7 MPa. It can be attributed to the reason that ECC
at compressive side was not crushed, which could restrain the steel tube
continuously during the whole stage.
For the composite column that features tension-controlled failure
mode, as shown in Fig. 13(c), the contact stress between steel tube and
ECC were further reduced. At the initial stage, the contact stress at
different locations were negligible as well. When the axial displacement
was about 5 mm, the contact stress in the compressive side increased
rapidly with a maximum value of 0.9 MPa. When the axial displacement
was about 12 mm, the composite column reached its peak load and the
contact stress at the compressive side reduced significantly. After the
peak load, the contact stress at the compressive side raised remarkably
with a maximum value of 1.4 MPa, once again demonstrating that ECC
in the compressive side could restrain the steel tube during the whole
loading stage.
4. Parameter analysis
According to the proposed FE model, the axial load (Nu ) and moment
capacities (Mu ) for ECC-encased CFST columns can be computed. Based
on the proposed FE model, the effects of different parameters on
the ​ Nu Mu ​ curves were discussed. The main parameters can be
summarized as: (1) core concrete strength (f ’c ); (2) steel tube ratio (αs );
J. Cai et al.
Fig. 13. Distribution of contact stress P2 at different locations.
(3) steel tube strength (f ty ); (4) longitudinal bar ratio (αl ); (5) ultimate
tensile strain of ECC (εt ); (6) compression strength of ECC (f ’ce ).
4.1. Compressive strength of core concrete
As shown in Fig. 14(a), for the composite columns that feature
compression-controlled failure mode, the loading carrying capacity
increased with the increase of core concrete strength. However, as the
eccentricity ratio increased, the composite columns were governed by
tension-controlled failure and the tensile failure was the controlling
factor thus the influence of core concrete strength was negligible.
4.2. Steel tube ratio
The steel tube ratio was defined as the cross-sectional area ratio
between steel tube and core concrete. As can be seen in Fig. 14(b), for
the composite column governed by both compression-controlled and
tension-controlled failure modes, the loading carrying capacity as well
as the ductility increased gradually as the steel tube ratio increased. It
Fig. 14. Effects of different parameters on Nu
8
Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188
may be attributed to the reason that the confinement effect increased
with the increase of steel tube ratio.
4.3. Steel tube strength
As shown in Fig. 14(c), the increase of steel tube strength has similar
effects with steel tube ratio, both loading carrying capacity and ductility
increased with the increase of steel tube strength. It may be attributed to
the reason that the passive confinement effect provided by steel tube
increased with the increase of steel tube strength.
4.4. Longitudinal bar ratio
The longitudinal bar ratio is defined as ​ ​ αl ¼ Al =ðA Asc Þ, where Al
is the cross-sectional area of the longitudinal bar, A is the cross-sectional
area of ECC-encased CFST column and Asc is the cross-sectional area of
inner CFST. As can be seen in Fig. 14(d), the loading and moment car­
rying capacity would increase with the increase of longitudinal bar ratio
during the whole stage, especially when the column features tension-
Mu ​ curves.
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

controlled failure mode.

4.5. Ultimate tensile strain of ECC

As can be seen in Fig. 14 (e), the ultimate tensile strain of ECC ma­
terial has negligible effect on the carrying capacity for those columns
which feature compression-controlled failure mode. While for those
columns governed by tension-controlled failure mode, since the con­
trolling factor was tensile fracture at tensile side, the carrying capacity Fig. 15. Cross-section simplification.
of the composite column increased gradually with the increase of tensile
strain of ECC.
where ​ k1 ¼ ​ k2 ¼ εcp εc0 , k3 ¼ εcu εc0 , εc0 and σc0 are the maximum
σc0 σ cp σc0 σcu σcp
εc0

4.6. Effect of compression strength of ECC
Generally, the compression strength of ECC is similar to that of
concrete, while ECC material with lower water-cement ratio or appro­
priate volume of silica fume possesses higher compression strength.
Fig. 14(f) shows the Nu Mu curves for the ECC-encased CFST columns
with different compressive strength of ECC. It seems that the compres­
sive strength of ECC has a positive influence on the axial load and
moment capacities of columns when the columns feature compression-
controlled failure mode. This is reasonable since the failure process is
governed by the compression behavior of ECC material in this case.
However, with the increase of eccentricity, the columns tend to fail in
tensile side. Therefore, the increase of compressive strength of ECC has
negligible influences on the load-carrying capacity of the column.
5. Theoretical models
elastic strain and corresponding stress, respectively; εcp and σ cp are the
peak strain and corresponding stress, respectively; σcu and εcu are the
ultimate strain and corresponding stress, respectively.
The tensile constitutive model for ECC is expressed as:
�
k4 ε ð0 � ε � εt0 Þ
σt ¼ (12)
σt0 þ k5 ðε εt0 Þ ðεt0 � ε � εtu Þ
where ​ k4 ¼ εt0 , k5 ¼ εtu εt0 , εt0 and σ t0 are the first cracking strain and
σt0 σtu σtu
stress; εtu and σ tu are the ultimate strain and stress. The constitutive
model for steel reinforcement is shown in Fig. 16(c).
Fig. 17 shows the strain distribution when the outermost layer of ECC
reached its ultimate strain (σcu ). The so-called balanced failure model is
defined as follows: the steel reinforcement in the tension side yielded
and the outmost fiber of compressive ECC reached its ultimate strength
simultaneously. According to the assumptions illustrated above, the
compression part of ECC can be expressed as:

5.1. Basic assumptions xab ¼

εcu
h0 (13)
εcu þ εy
As shown in Fig. 13, the outer ECC component has lower contact
stress with inner CFST columns, indicating the slip as well as composite where xab is the depth of ECC under compression stress with balanced
effect between them are negligible. Thus, the sectional capacity of ECC- failure mode; εy is the yield strain of steel rebar in the tension side; h0 is
encased CFST column can be divided into two parts, which are inner the effective height shown in Fig. 17. It is obvious that the cross section
CFST component and outer R/ECC component shown as follows: is subjected to compression controlled failure whenxa � εcuεþ cu
εy h0 , while
the cross-section is subjected to tension controlled failure
Nu ¼ NuE þ Ncfst (9)
when xa � εcuεþ
cu
εy h0 , xa represents the depth of ECC under compression

Mu ¼ MuE þ Mcfst (10) stress.

where Nu and Mu are the ultimate compression and moment carrying 5.2.1. Tension-controlled failure
capacity of the composite column, NuE and MuE are the ultimate When the reinforced ECC column with I-shaped cross-section fails in
compression and moment carrying capacity of the outer steel reinforced tension-controlled failure, the stress distribution model can be divided
ECC, Ncfst and Mcfst are the ultimate compression and moment carrying into two types, as shown in Fig. 18.
capacity of the inner CFST. Based on the force equilibrium, the axial load is expressed as:
Following assumptions are made in this paper: (1) The cross-section Z xa Z h 2r Z hþ2r Z h
remained plane during the loading process, therefore the strain for
2 2
NuE ¼ bσ c ðεÞdx bσ t ðεÞdx tσt ðεÞdx bσ t ðεÞdx þ f ’y A’s
different components are proportional to the distance from the neutral
h 2r hþ2r
0 xa 2 2

axis; (2) The bond between steel reinforcement and ECC is perfect and fy As
the bond-slip effect was ignored; (3) The tensile stress of concrete was (14)
ignored. (4) The stress–strain relationship for the longitudinal bar and
Also, according to the moment equilibrium, the bending moment
steel tube is idealized as an elastic-plastic relation. (5) Both inner CFST
bearing capacity is expressed as:
component and outer R/ECC component have the same neutral axis.
Z xa � � Z h 22r � �
h h
5.2. For the outer steel reinforced component (NuE and ​ MuE ) MuE ¼ bσc ðεÞ
2
x dx þ bσ t ðεÞ
2
x dx
0 xa
Z h2 � � Z hþ2r � �
In order to simplify the theoretical model, as can be seen in Fig. 15, h 2 h
þ tσt ðεÞ x dx þ tσt ðεÞ x dx (15)
the outer R/ECC component is simplified as an approximately I-shaped h 2r
2
2 h
2
2
Z h � � � � � �
section. It should be guaranteed that the R/ECC component has the same h h h
þ bσ t ðεÞ x dx þ f ’y A’s a’s þ fy As as
area after simplification, thus the area S1 should be equal toS2 . hþ2r
2
2 2 2
The constitutive models for ECC and steel reinforcements are shown
in Fig. 16, which is given by Ref. [23]: where a’s and as are the cover thickness of R/ECC column at compressive
8 and tensile side, respectively.
< k1 ε ð0 � ε � εc0 Þ�
σ c ¼ σc0 þ k2 ðε εc0 Þ εc0 � ε � εcp � (11)
:
σcp þ k3 ðε εc0 Þ εcp � ε � εcu (2) Type 2

9
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

Fig. 16. Constitutive models for (a) ECC in compression; (b) ECC in uniaxial tension; (c) steel.

Based on the force equilibrium, the axial load is expressed as:

Z h 2r
2
Z xa Z hþ2r
2
Z h
NuE ¼ bσc ðεÞdx þ tσc ðεÞdx tσ t ðεÞdx bσ t ðεÞdx þ f ’y A’s
h 2r hþ2r
0 2 xa 2

fy As
(16)
According to the moment equilibrium, the bending moment bearing
capacity is expressed as:
Z h 2r � � Z xa � �
2 h h
MuE ¼ bσc ðεÞ x dx þ tσc ðεÞ x dx
0 2 h 2r
2
2
Z h2 � � Z hþ2r � �
h h
(17)
2
þ tσt ðεÞ x dx þ tσt ðεÞ x dx
xa 2 h
2
2
Z h � � � � � �
h h h
þ bσ t ðεÞ x dx þ f ’y A’s a’s þ fy As as
hþ2r
2
2 2 2

5.2.2. Compression-controlled failure

When the reinforced ECC column with I-shaped cross section features
compression-controlled failure mode, the stress distribution model can
Fig. 17. Strain distributions along the cross section. also be divided into two types which are shown in Fig. 19.
Based on the plane-section remaining assumption, the stress of the

Fig. 18. Stress distribution of R/ECC in tension-controlled failure.

(1) Type 1

10
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

steel reinforcement can be calculated as follow Z h 2r Z hþ2r Z Z

2 2 xa h
� � NuE ¼ bσc ðεÞdx þ tσ c ðεÞdx þ tσ c ðεÞdx bσt ðεÞdx þ f ’y A’s
h xa
εs ¼ 0 εcu (18) 0 h 2r
2
hþ2r
2 xa
xa
σ s As
h0 xa (22)
σ s ¼ Es ε s ¼ Es εcu (19)
xa � � � �
Z h 2r Z h2
2 h h
Based on the force equilibrium, the axial load is expressed as: MuE ¼ bσc ðεÞ x dx þ tσ c ðεÞ x dx
0 2 h 2r
2
2
Z h 2r
2
Z xa Z hþ2r
2 Z hþ2r � � Z xa � �
h h
(23)
2
NuE ¼ bσc ðεÞdx þ tσc ðεÞdx tσt ðεÞdx þ tσc ðεÞ x dx þ bσc ðεÞ x dx
h 2r
2 2
(20)
0 2 xa h hþ2r
Z h
2
Z h � �
2
� � � �
bσ t ðεÞdx þ f ’y A’s σs As h h h
þ bσ t ðεÞ x dx þ f ’y A’s a’s þ σ s As as
hþ2r
2 hþ2r
2
2 2 2
The bending moment bearing capacity is expressed as: All the parameters in above four types can be computed according to
Z h 2r� � Z h2 � � the proposed constitutive models.
2 h h
MuE ¼ bσc ðεÞ x dx þ tσc ðεÞ x dx
0 2 h 2r
2
2
Z hþ2r � � Z � �
h xa
h 5.3. For the inner CFST component (Ncfst ​ and ​ Mcfst )
(21)
2
þ tσ c ðεÞ x dx þ bσ c ðεÞ x dx
h 2 hþ2r 2
The simplified calculation method for CFST column has been pro­
2 2
Z h � � � � � �
h h h
þ bσ t ðεÞ x dx þ f ’y A’s a’s þ σ s As as posed by An et al. [24], which is shown as follow:
xa 2 2 2
Ncfst ¼ γAc;core σe;core þ k1 fys As (24)

(4) Type 4 Mcfst ¼ γAc;core σ e;core ð0:5b xe;core Þ þ 2k2 fys As r (25)

Based on the force equilibrium, the axial load and moment is where
expressed as:

8 � �
>
> xa B B Di
>
< 0:16 þ 0:5 Di þ ð0:5ðB þ Di Þ � xa � BÞ
Di B 2
xe;core ¼ � � (26)
>
> xa 0:5B þ 0:5Di B Di
>
: 0:04 þ 0:46 ðxa 0:5B þ 0:5Di Þ þ ð0:5ðB Di Þ < xa < 0:5ðB þ Di ÞÞ
Di 2

Fig. 19. Stress distribution of R/ECC in compression-controlled failure.

(3) Type 3

11
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

8 0:1ξ
�
8 <1 þ q x 1 ðξ � 1:12Þ
>
> B xa y¼ x (36)
>
< 0:3 þ1 0:5ðB þ Di Þ � xa � B : ðξ > 1:12Þ
B Di βðx 1Þ2 þ x
γ¼
>
> xa 0:5ðB Di Þ
>
: 0:12 þ 0:73 ð0:5ðB Di Þ < xa < 0:5ðB þ Di ÞÞ wherex ¼ ε0 ,y σ0 and ε0 are the peak stress and the corre­
εe;core σe;core
Di ¼ σ0
(27) sponding strain, respectively; ξis the confinement factor of CFST which
can be calculated as (As fys )/ðAcore fck;core Þ. This stress-strain model has
been widely applied and other parameters can be found in reference

�� �� � � � � �� !0:38
D xa 2 D xa D 345 � xa �
k1 ¼ 2:8 4:2 þ 4:6 þ 7:9 þ 1:6 2:9 � �1 (28)
B B B B B fys B

[24].

�� � � �� � � 5.4. Nu Mu ​ Curves for ECC-encased CFST columns

D xa D xa
k1 ¼ 3 þ 4:6 þ 1:5 2:3 < 0:5 (29)
B B B B
Based on the proposed calculation methods, the load and moment
�x �2 �x �2 carrying capacities for the composite columns with different eccentricity
(30) ratios can be computed when the specimen dimensions are fixed. The
a a
k2 ¼ m1 þ m2 þ m3
B B
flow chart to determine Nu and Mu is shown in Fig. 21. Firstly, we should
8 � �2
D D � xa � “Input column dimension and materials properties”, this is the first step
>
>
< 5:3
B
þ 6:7
B
1:8 0:5 � � 1
B and all the parameters have been given above. According to the pro­
m1 ¼ (31) posed model (equation (14) to equation (36)), it can be found that
>
> �x �2 xa �x �
: 22:2
a
þ 29:4 12
a
< 0:5 Nu ​ and ​ Mu are the functions of ​ ​ xa . With the inputting of differ­
B B B
ent ​ ​ xa , the Nu Mu can be plotted as shown in Fig. 22. The black dots
8 � �2
> � � in Fig. 22 represent the experimental results of different columns.
> D D 345 xa
>
>
< 9:1 11:8 þ 0:6 þ 2:3 0:5 � � 1 Generally, it can be seen that the calculation results are in good agree­
B B fys B
m2 ¼ � �2 (32) ment with the experimental results. As can be seen in Table 3, the
> � �
>
>
> D D 345 xa maximum error between experimental value (Ne ) and calculation value
: 13:7 19:4 0:76 þ 9:7 < 0:5
B B fys B (NPu ) was controlled within 12%. It was also found that the compressive
8 strength derived from FE modeling (Nf ) has higher accuracy. It is
� �2 � �
>
>
>
D D 345 xa reasonable since the nonlinear behavior of materials as well the com­
< 3:9 B þ 5:3 B 0:46 fys
> 0:7 0:5 � � 1
B posite effects between different components were considered in the FE
m3 ¼ (33)
>
>
� �2 � � modeling.
>
> D D 345 xa
: 2:1 þ 3:5 þ 0:22 1:9 < 0:5
B B fys B
6. Conclusions
whenxe;core is fixed, the εe;core can be deduced based on the plane-section
assumption show in Fig. 20, where Based on the simulational methods, the eccentric behaviors of ECC-
� encased CFST columns were studied. The key conclusions are summa­
εe;core ¼ εcu ðxa xcorei Þ xa (34) rized as follows:
Then the corresponding σ e;core can be computed by the constitutive
(1) The FE model for ECC-encased CFST columns under eccentric
relation of steel tube reinforced concrete shown as following:
loading was established with the considerations of different
y ¼ 2x x2 ðx � 1Þ (35) constitutive models. The accuracy of FE model was verified with
the experimental results.
(2) The failure mechanism of ECC-encased CFST column was inves­
tigated with the proposed FE model. It was found that the

Table 3
Comparison of the compressive strength.
Specimens Experimental FEA Computational Ncu =Ne Nf /Ne
(Ne ) (Nf ) (Ncu )

C1-0.2 3671 3536 3789 1.032 0.9632

C1-0.4 2768 2643 2571 0.929 0.9548
C1-0.6 1846 1711 1759 0.953 0.9269
C1-0.8 1178 1130 1270 1.078 0.9593
C2-0.4 2643 2465 2341 0.886 0.9326
C3-0.4 3055 2973 2807 0.919 0.9732
C4-0.4 2586 2386 2324 0.905 0.9225
Fig. 20. Stress distribution of inner CFST.

12
J. Cai et al.
Fig. 21. Flow chart to determine Nu and.Mu
Fig. 22. Nu Mu ​ curve for ECC-encased CFST column.
eccentricity ratio has a significant influence on the yielding
processes and composite effect between each component.
(3) The influences of different parameters on the eccentric behavior
of the composite column were discussed. It was found that the
steel tube ratio (αs ), steel tube strength (f ty ) and longitudinal
reinforcement ratio (αl ) influenced the load capacity of ECC-
encased CFST column regardless of their failure modes. By
contrast, the core concrete strength ​ ðf ccu Þ and compression
strength of ECC ð ​ f Ecu Þ influenced those columns which feature
compression-controlled failure mode. By contrast, the ultimate
tensile strain of ECC ​ ðεt Þ influences those columns which feature
tension-controlled failure mode.
(4) A theoretical model was developed and compared with the
experimental results. The maximum error between experimental
value (Nu ) and calculation value (NPu ) was controlled within 12%,
the accuracy of the proposed theoretical model was verified.
13
Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jingming Cai: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original
draft. Jinlong Pan: Funding acquisition, Supervision. Jiawei Tan:
Validation, Investigation. Brecht Vandevyvere: Writing - review &
editing, Investigation. Xiaopeng Li: Writing - review & editing,
Investigation.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 51778131 and No. 51908117) and Jiangsu Planned Pro­
jects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (2019K042).
References
[1] F. Yuan, J. Pan, L. Dong, et al., Mechanical behaviors of steel reinforced ECC or
ECC/concrete composite beams under reversed cyclic loading[J], J. Mater. Civ.
Eng. 26 (8) (2013), 04014047, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-
5533.0000935.
[2] F. Yuan, M. Chen, F. Zhou, et al., Behaviors of steel-reinforced ECC columns under
eccentric compression[J], Constr. Build. Mater. 185 (2018) 402–413, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.07.100.
[3] W. Ge, A.F. Ashour, D. Cao, et al., Experimental study on flexural behavior of ECC-
concrete composite beams reinforced with FRP bars[J], Compos. Struct. 208
(2019) 454–465, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2018.10.026.
[4] J.C. Liu, K.H. Tan, D. Zhang, Multi-response optimization of post-fire performance
of strain hardening cementitious composite[J], Cement Concr. Compos. 80 (2017)
80–90, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2017.03.001.
[5] Q. Zhang, V.C. Li, Development of durable spray-applied fire-resistive engineered
cementitious composites (SFR-ECC)[J], Cement Concr. Compos. 60 (2015) 10–16,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2015.03.012.
[6] A. Mohammedameen, M.E. Gülşan, ee R. Alzeereinforcement, et al., Mechanical
and durability performance of FRP confined and unconfined strain hardening
cementitious composites exposed to sulfate attack[J], Constr. Build. Mater. 207
(2019) 158–173, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.02.108.
[7] Q. Jin, V.C. Li, Development of lightweight engineered cementitious composite for
durability enhancement of tall concrete wind towers[J], Cement Concr. Compos.
96 (2019) 87–94, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.11.016.
[8] X. Cai, S. Xu, Uniaxial compressive properties of ultra high toughness cementitious
composite[J], J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Materials Sci. Ed. 26 (4) (2011) 762–769,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-011-0307-0.
[9] J. Cai, J. Pan, X. Li, Behavior of ECC-encased CFST columns under axial
compression[J], Eng. Struct. 171 (2018) 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
engstruct.2018.05.090.
[10] J. Cai, J. Pan, C. Lu, Mechanical behavior of ECC-encased CFST columns subjected
to eccentric loading[J], Eng. Struct. 162 (2018) 22–28, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
engstruct.2018.02.029.
[11] J. Cai, J. Pan, H. Su, et al., Experimental study on the hysteretic behavior of ECC-
encased CFST columns[J], Eng. Struct. 173 (2018) 107–121, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.06.095.
[12] L.H. Han, G.H. Yao, Z. Tao, Performance of concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubes
under pure torsion[J], Thin-Walled Struct. 45 (1) (2007) 24–36, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.tws.2007.01.008.
[13] Z. Tao, Z.B. Wang, Q. Yu, Finite element modelling of concrete-filled steel stub
columns under axial compression[J], J. Constr. Steel Res. 89 (2013) 121–131,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2013.07.001.
[14] J.M. Cai, J.L. Pan, C. Lu, et al., Nonlinear analysis of circular concrete-filled steel
tube columns under eccentric loading[J], Mag. Concr. Res. 71 (23) (2018) 1–12.
[15] A. Committee, A.C. Institute, IOf Standardization (Eds.), Building Code
Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-08) and Commentary, American
Concrete Institute, 2008.
[16] A. Hillerborg, M. Mod�eer, P.-E. Petersson, Analysis of crack formation and crack
growth in concrete by means of fracture mechanics and finite elements[J], Cement
Concr. Res. 6 (6) (1976) 773–781, https://doi.org/10.1016/0008-8846(76)90007-
7.
[17] J. Zhou, J. Pan, C.K.Y. Leung, Mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced engineered
cementitious composites in uniaxial compression[J], J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 27 (1)
(2014), 04014111, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001034.
[18] Y. Li, Z. Liu, W. Wang, et al., Experimental study on axial compression performance
of ECC confined with stirrups[J], J. Build. Struct. (7) (2017) 20 (In Chinese).
[19] Q. Zhang, V.C. Li, Adhesive bonding of fire-resistive engineered cementitious
composites (ECC) to steel[J], Constr. Build. Mater. 64 (2014) 431–439, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.04.059.
[20] M.J. Bandelt, S.L. Billington, Bond behavior of steel reinforcement in high-
performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite flexural members, [J].
Materials and structures 49 (1–2) (2016) 71–86, https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-
014-0475-4.
[21] Y.F. Wu, C. Jiang, Effect of load eccentricity on the stress–strain relationship of
FRP-confined concrete columns[J], Compos. Struct. 98 (2013) 228–241, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.11.023.
J. Cai et al. Journal of Building Engineering 30 (2020) 101188

[22] Y. Cao, Y.F. Wu, C. Jiang, Stress-strain relationship of FRP confined concrete [24] Y.F. An, L.H. Han, Behavior of concrete-encased CFST columns under combined
columns under combined axial load and bending moment[J], Compos. B Eng. 134 compression and bending[J], J. Constr. Steel Res. 101 (2014) 314–330, https://
(2018) 207–217, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.09.063. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2014.06.002.
[23] J.L. Pan, J. Gu, J.H. Chen, Theoretical modeling of steel reinforced ECC column
under eccentric compressive loading[J], Sci. China Technol. Sci. 58 (5) (2015)
889–898, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-015-5798-z.

14