Axial compressed UHPC plate-concrete filled steel tubular composite short columns, Part I: Bearing capacity

An experimental study on six axially-loaded composite short columns with different thicknesses of steel tube and that of the concrete plate was carried out. Compared to the mechanical behavior of component specimens under axially compressed, the failure modes, compression deformation, and strain process were obtained. The two main parameters that have a significant enhancement to cross-sectional strength were also analyzed. The failure of an axially loaded UHPC-CFST short column is due to the crushing of the UHPC plate, while the CFST member does reach its maximum resistance. A reduction coefficient K'c, related to the confinement coefficient, is introduced to account for the contribution of CFST members to the ultimate load-carrying capacity of the UHPC-CFST composite short columns. Based on the regression analysis of the relationship between the confinement index ξ and the value of fcc/fc, a unified formula for estimating the axial compressive strength of CFST short columns was proposed, combined with the experimental results in this research, and an equation for reliably predicting the strength of UHPC-CFST composite short columns under axial compression were also proposed.