Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Constructional Steel Research

The effects of cross-sectional shapes on the axial performance

of concrete-filled steel tube columns
Pouria Ayough a,⁎, Zainah Ibrahim a, N.H. Ramli Sulong a,b, Po-Chien Hsiao c
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Science & Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
c
Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

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

Article history: Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns have been used in the construction of modern structures such as
Received 15 April 2020 high-rise buildings and bridges as well as infrastructures as they provide better structural performance than
Received in revised form 22 October 2020 conventional reinforced concrete or steel members. Different shapes of CFST columns may be needed to satisfy
Accepted 22 October 2020
the architectural and aesthetic criteria. In the study, three dimensional FE simulations of circular, square, hexag-
Available online xxxx
onal, and octagonal CFST stub columns under axial compression were developed and verified through the
Keywords:
experimental test data from the perspectives of full load-displacement histories, ultimate axial strengths, and
Concrete-filled steel tubes failure modes. The verified FE models were used to investigate and compare the structural performance of
Composite actions CFST columns with different cross-section shapes by evaluating the overall load-deformation curves, interaction
Axial compression stress-deformation responses, and composite actions of the column. The extent of the ultimate-axial-strength
Nonlinear analysis enhancement due to enhanced steel yield strength and concrete compressive strength was evaluated through
Finite element the parametric studies. At last, the accuracy of available design models in predicting the ultimate axial strengths
Parametric study of CFST columns were investigated. Research results showed that the behaviors of hexagonal and octagonal CFST
columns were generally similar to that of the square CFST column as their overall structural performance was
relatively improved.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The high demand for constructing lightweight, high rise buildings
with the least possible construction time by taking into account archi-
tectural and aesthetical demands has led to novelty in structural sys-
tems. In such structures, the columns gained increasing importance,
especially on lower floors due to the extreme imposed dead loads
from the higher levels. The use of concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST)
columns instead of the traditional bare steel sections or reinforced con-
crete columns in frame structures can be considered as a development
in structural and architectural engineering, due to their low weight,
structural efficiency, low price, and ease of construction. Besides, they
have presented excellent seismic behavior compared with the tradi-
tional columns [1,2].
Fig. 1 shows various types of CFST columns. Out of the shapes, circu-
lar (Fig. 1(a)) and square (Fig. 1(b)) cross-sections are the most com-
mon shapes utilized in modern structures. The most remarkable
⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
E-mail addresses: pooriya.ayough@qiau.ac.ir, kva180005@siswa.um.edu.my
(P. Ayough), zainah@um.edu.my (Z. Ibrahim).
advantages of circular CFST columns compared to the square ones are
their stronger confinement effect as well as the better resistance of cir-
cular steel tube against to local buckling. However, the design and de-
tails of beam-to-square CFST column connections are simpler and
thereby cost-attractive. Both of circular and square CFST columns have
therefore attracted a great extent of attention among researchers and
structural engineers. Various experimental and numerical works have
been done on circular and square CFST columns to investigate their
performance. Dundu [3] assessed the behavior of concentrically loaded
circular CFST columns having different geometrical and material prop-
erties. It was clarified that the failure mechanism of CFST columns hav-
ing large slenderness ratio is the flexural buckling, whereas the failure
mode of CFST columns with stocky steel tube is yielding of the tube
plus crushing of the concrete core. A similar failure modes were ad-
dressed by Han et al. [1], Lai and Farma [4], Ekmekyapar and Al-Eliwi
[5], and Wang et al. [6]. The behavior of axially loaded square CFST col-
umns was examined by different researches [7–10] in which local out-
ward folding of the square steel tube plus crushing of the infilled
concrete was reported as the main failure mechanism of square CFST
columns. The results show that filling the steel tube by high strength
concrete (HSC) can highly improve the ultimate axial capacity of col-
umns. By contrast, composite columns with HSC display poor ductility.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2020.106424
0143-974X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 1. A schematic view of CFST columns.
This issue is almost identical in both circular and square CFST columns
[10–15]. The composite action of circular and square composite col-
umns has been comprehensively examined in the numerical work of
Huang et al. [16] and Wang and Li [17]. It was observed that the circular
steel tube can highly confine the concrete core, whereas the confine-
ment effect provided by the square steel tube is weaker than the circular
one. Hu et al. [18] investigated the confinement effects in circular and
square CFST columns and observed that circular steel tubes with the
diameter-to-thickness ratio smaller than 40 imposed the maximum
confining pressure on the concrete core, whereas the confinement effect
provided by square steel tubes is negligible, especially in specimens
having the width-to-thickness ratios greater than 30. Similar results
were observed on the ability of the circular steel tube in confining the
concrete core by Gupta et al. [19] where the performance of circular
CFST columns with the diameter-to-thickness ratio ranging from 25 to
39 was evaluated. Concerning the finite element (FE) analysis of CFST
stub columns, various studies were conducted on the circular CFST
stub columns [20–24] and square CFST stub columns [25–28].
Special cross-sectional shapes of CFST columns may be required in
some cases due to architectural demands. Wang and Han [29] con-
ducted an analytical study on special-shaped CFST stub columns,
i.e., triangular, fan-shaped. D-shaped, ¼ circular, and semi-circular sec-
tions based on the experimental investigation of Ren et al. [30]. It was
clarified that the structural performance of examined specimens is
close to the square CFST columns. The compressive behavior of T-
shaped and L-shaped CFST columns was evaluated in the experimental
works of Yang et al. [31] and Zuo et al. [32], respectively. The results in-
dicate that the overall performance of the examined CFST columns is
relatively similar to the square section. Besides, the overall performance
of CFST columns can be enhanced by improving the stiffness of steel
Fig. 2. Application of CFST columns.
2
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
tubes. Recently, Zheng and Zeng [33] conducted a comprehensive para-
metric study on the L-shaped and D-shaped CFST columns using FE
analysis and developed new design equations for their design.
Concerning the elliptical CFST stub columns, Uenaka [34] performed a
comprehensive experimental study on the axial performance of ellipti-
cal specimens with the width-to-thickness ratio ranging from 69 to 160.
It was observed that the shear failure of the concrete core and local
buckling of the elliptical steel tube was the typical failure mechanism
of the specimens, which is similar to the circular CFST stub columns. Be-
sides, the elliptical tube can efficiently confine the infilled concrete.
However, Ahmed and Liang [35] reported that the ability of the elliptical
steel tube in confining the concrete core is less than the circular one.
Recently, the use of polygonal CFST columns such as hexagonal
(Fig. 1(c)) and octagonal (Fig. 1(d)) CFST columns have attracted in-
creasing interest between structural engineers. Fig. 2 displays the appli-
cations of CFST columns in the industry. The Qianmen metro station in
Beijing is one of the first structures built with the use of circular CFST
columns [1] (Fig. 2(a)). Ruifeng International Commercial Building in
China is shown in Fig. 2(b) where square CFST members have been
used as columns. Gaoyin Financial Building in China is one of the most
recent modern structures in which polygon CFST columns have been
employed (Fig. 2(c)). The increase in the use of hexagonal and polygo-
nal columns in the industry indicate the need for further investigation
into their behaviors. The first experimental investigation on octagonal
CFST stub columns was conducted by Tomii et al. [36]. Later, Ding
et al. [37,38] examined the axial behavior of hexagonal and octagonal
CFST columns by conducting experimental investigations and reported
that the confinement behaviors of polygonal CFST columns differ from
those of circular CFST columns. However, it was observed that contrary
to the square CFST columns, the confinement effect provided by both
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
hexagonal and octagonal steel tubes can improve the compressive
strength of the confined concrete. Hassanein et al. [39,40] conducted a
series of parametric studies to assess the effects of geometric and mate-
rial properties on the behavior of octagonal and hexagonal CFST col-
umns. Their finding corroborated the test results of Ding et al. [37,38].
Han et al. [41] assessed the performance of dual-axisymmetric
hexagonal CFST members under compression and bending. Contrary
to the previous works, they observed that the hexagonal steel tube hav-
ing dual-axisymmetric cross-section could only improve the ductility of
the concrete core, which is similar to the square CFST columns. Struc-
tural performance of hexagonal multi-cell CFST stub columns subjected
to axial compression was evaluated through an analytical study by
Zhang et al. [42]. It was observed that the maximum confining pressure
between the steel tube and the concrete core occurs at the corners of the
section, whereas it is the least in between the corners, which is similar
to the confinement mechanism of square CFST columns and ordinary
hexagonal CFST columns. Yu et al. [43] developed a unified model for
predicting the compressive capacity of stub and long circular and polyg-
onal CFST columns based on the theory of elasticity and analytical inves-
tigation of circular CFST columns [44]. Evirgen et al. [45] performed
experiments on CFST columns with circular, square, and hexagonal
shapes under compressive loading. It was confirmed that circular CFST
columns have better ductility than other cross-sectional shapes.
From the above literature review, it can be observed that most stud-
ies were focused on the behavior of circular and square CFST columns.
Additionally, except the experimental work of Evirgen et al. [45], no
study has been performed on the differences in the performance of cir-
cular, square, hexagonal, and octagonal CFST columns and the structural
behaviors of hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns have been exam-
ined individually by a limited number of studies. Besides, the available
numerical and analytical studies [37–40] only focused on the effects of
material properties, i.e., yield strength of the steel tube fsy and concrete
compressive strength fc′, and geometrical properties, i.e., diameter D,
width B, and thickness t of the steel tube on the axial strengths hexago-
nal and octagonal CFST, and their composite actions have not been com-
pared. Experimental tests provide valuable information regarding the
behavior of CFST columns. However, some aspects, such as the interac-
tion between the constituent components, cannot be assessed through
the experimental investigation. Additionally, conducting experimental
parametric studies can be costly and time-consuming. Performing finite
element (FE) analysis through software such as ABAQUS has become an
inevitable part of the majority of structural studies, due to its efficiency
in investigating the behaviors, particularly the composite actions among
steel tubes and concrete cores of composite specimens, and its accuracy
in well predicting the effects of key parameters on the performance of
composite members. Hence, further studies through FE analyses are re-
quired to fully understand the structural performance of axially loaded
CFST columns with different cross-sections, and to comprehend their
composite actions and differences. Only by doing so can profoundly fig-
ure out the differences between the composite actions of CFST columns
and to present design models accordingly. This is because none of the
design codes, such as Eurocode 4 [46] and ANSI/AISC360-16 [47], have
provided predictive equations for the design of hexagonal and octagonal
CFST columns. Therefore, structural engineers are required to use cur-
rent models explicitly developed for circular and square CFST columns
in the design of hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns. [48]
This research investigates the behavior of CFST short columns with
different sectional shapes subjected to the axial compression and com-
pares their structural response, especially the interaction between the
steel tubes and the concrete cores based on the numerical and analytical
study. Considering the current engineering industry demand, circular,
square, hexagonal, and octagonal CFST stub columns are analyzed
through nonlinear FE analysis of axially loaded CFST columns. The FE
models are developed and verified against the experimental test results
reported by Schneider [49], Huang et al. [7], Giakoumelis and Lam [50],
Liu et al. [10], and Ding et al. [38]. The composite actions among steel
3
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
tubes and concrete cores have been thoroughly analyzed in the FE
analysis. Full histories of load-deformation and interaction stress-
deformation responses of CFST columns have been carefully investi-
gated to understand the composite actions of CFST columns with
different cross-sectional shapes. A series of parametric studies are sub-
sequently conducted to further examine the effects of steel tube yield
strength, the compressive strength of the confined concrete, and the
cross-sectional shape of the steel tube. Finally, the feasibility of design
methods recommended by design guidelines in predicting the ultimate
axial strengths of CFST columns are investigated.
2. Finite element modeling and verification
2.1. Introduction
ABAQUS FE software was adopted in this study to simulate the be-
haviors of the circular, square, hexagonal, and octagonal CFST stub col-
umns subjected to axial compressive loading. The full-scale FE model
is developed to replicate the experimental test procedures, generate
complementary data for evaluating and comparing the composite be-
havior of different CFST stub columns, and to perform parametric
studies.
2.2. Element, boundary condition and method of loading
8-node linear brick elements with reduced integration (C3D8R)
were employed for modeling the concrete core. The reason is attributed
to the fact that the infilled concrete of a CFST stub column under con-
centric axial compression mainly presents compression as the dominant
deformation, and there is no trace of rotation. Hence, the element
C3D8R can effectively reflect the deformation features of the infilled
concrete. Typically, the shell element type of S4R is used for modeling
the thin-walled steel tubes, since it can well represent the outward
local buckling of the tube due to the lateral expansion of the concrete
core. Based on the numerical works of Dai et al. [51,52] on elliptical
CFST columns and Durate et al. [53] on the square and circular CFST
stub column, the solid element C3D8R can also be used for the buckling
analysis and no significant difference can be found between the pre-
dicted results obtained by using elements S4R and C3D8R. However,
using shell elements may affect the steel tube's contacting curved sur-
face and the infilled concrete because the wall thickness (shell thick-
ness) is much smaller than the element size. This issue can reduce the
accuracy of the interaction surface simulation [51,52]. Therefore, the
steel tubes were also modeled by using the element type of C3D8R.
Two layers of elements were considered through the tube thickness to
avoid premature buckling of the steel tube. A similar approach was
employed by Ayough et al. [54], Hassanein et al. [39,40,55–57], Ellobody
et al. [11], as well as the numerical works [51–53].
The optimum mesh size was determined by using mesh sensitivity
analysis to reach reliable FE simulations. To this end, sixty-four FE anal-
ysis trials on specimens CU-047 [18] with D × t = 140 × 3 mm, SU-029
[49] with D × t = 127 × 4.34 mm, HS3030 [45] with D × t = 150 × 3
mm, and 3HN [36] with D × t = 150 × 3.2 mm having different nominal
mesh sizes ranging from 25 mm to 160 mm were conducted. Trials an-
alyzes indicated that if the adopted mesh sizes in the specimens
HS3030, 3HN, CU-047, and SU-029 were smaller than 88 mm, 79 mm,
61 mm, and 70 mm, respectively, the errors of ultimate axial strengths
were less than 1%. This issue is shown in Fig. 3 in which Nmesh,i is the pre-
dicted ultimate axial strength with the applied mesh size of i (25
mm ≤ i ≤ 160 mm), and Nmesh,b.m represents the ultimate axial load ob-
tained from the FE analysis by adopting the benchmark mesh size. The
nominal element sizes of 61 mm, 70 mm, 79 mm, and 88 mm are con-
sidered as the benchmark mesh size of circular, square, octagonal, and
hexagonal cross-sections, respectively. As shown in Fig. 3, the Nmesh,i/
Nmesh,b.m ratios of all sectional types when the applied mesh size is
50 mm is close to the unity baseline. Therefore, a mesh size of
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 3. Mesh sensitivity test.
50 × 50 mm is adopted for the concrete core. A refined element size of
30 × 30 is taken for the steel tube to gain a better prediction of the pos-
sible local instabilities of thin-walled steel tubes. A typical meshing
scheme of specimens is shown in Fig. 4.
The endplates are simulated as rigid bodies having infinity stiffness.
Steel tubes are tied to the top and bottom endplates, where reference
points are assigned to them for controlling the boundary conditions
and the applied load. The bottom endplate has fully fixed boundary con-
ditions where all degrees of freedoms are restricted, whereas the top
endplate has clamped boundary conditions, and it is free to displace in
the loading direction, as presented in Fig. 4. Loading is applied by
using the displacement-controlled loads.
2.3. Steel tubes-concrete infill interface
The surface-to-surface based interaction models were applied to de-
scribe the interaction between the steel tubes and the infilled concrete.
The inner surface of the steel tube was considered as the master surface,
whereas the external area of the concrete core was defined as the slave
surface for the contact algorithm. The hard-contact model in the normal
direction was employed. This let the contact pressure to be transferred
in the normal direction of the steel tube and core concrete surface
when they interacted with each other. By contrast, two contacting
Fig. 4. Schematic view of mesh configurations and boundary conditions.
4
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
surfaces separate when they were in tension, and hence, the contact
pressure between two surfaces diminished to zero. The isotropic
Coulomb friction model was defined for the contact in the tangential di-
rection. Accordingly, the shear stress could be transmitted between the
surfaces in the tangential direction until the shear stress reaches the
critical value, τcrit. By reaching to the bond stress τbond, the shear stress
was proportional to the confinement stress, p. τcrit is given by:
τ crit ¼ μp ≥ τbond ð1Þ
in which μ is the frictional factor and is taken as 0.6 [58] in this study.
The formula for predicting the bond stress between circular steel tube
and concrete interfaces suggested by Roeder et al. [59] was used in the
current FE simulations of circular and octagonal CFST columns, as
shown in Eq. (2a). A similar approach has been used in the numerical
work of Wang and Han [60]. Morishita et al. [61,62] employed a reduc-
tion factor of 0.75 in the empirical formula of Roeder et al. [59] for esti-
mating τbond of square CFST columns, as expressed Eq. (2b). Ding et al.
[38] noted that the composite behavior of the regular hexagonal CFST
columns is almost similar to that of the square ones. Therefore, the pro-
posed Eq. (2b) was used for τbond of both square and hexagonal CFST
columns. D and t in Eq. (2) represent the diameter or width of the
cross-section and thickness of the steel tube, respectively.
8

>
> D
< 2:314−0:0195 for circular and Octagonal CFST columns ð2aÞ

t

τ bond ¼
>
> D
: 0:75 2:314−0:0195 for square and hexagonal CFST columns ð2bÞ
t
2.4. Residual stress and initial imperfection
Generally, initial imperfections are not considered in FE modeling to
improve the computation efficiency, due to their insignificant effects on
the performance of CFST stub columns. However, the numerical results
[2,63] showed that the influences of initial imperfections may reduce
the ultimate strength of CFST stub columns having flat steel tubes,
such as square steel tubes, up to 4%. Since CFST stub columns with flat
steel tubes are more susceptible to local buckling than circular ones,
the amplitude of the local imperfections equal to 0.01B recommended
by Chinese design guideline GB 50018–2002 [64] was used in this
study for square, hexagonal and octagonal specimens. In contrast, this
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

issue was ignored for the circular CFST column. It has been verified that 2.5.2. Concrete core
the effects of residual stress on the load-deformation histories of CFST The Drucker–Prager plasticity model available in the ABAQUS mate-
stub columns are negligible due to the existence of concrete core rial library was adopted for simulating the nonlinear behavior of the
[2,65,66]. The effects of residual stress were subsequently ignored in infilled concrete to determine the yield surface and the flow potential
this study. parameters for concrete material when it is under triaxial compressive
stresses. This model is proper for modeling materials that their com-
2.5. Material properties pressive yield strengths are considerably higher than their tensile
yield strength, such as the concrete. Besides, enhancement of the con-
2.5.1. Steel tube crete shear strength due to the rise in the hydrostatic pressure is one
The Von-Mises yield criterion with the associated plastic flow and of the characteristics of the infilled concrete restrained by the steel
isotropic strain hardening rule was used for the constitutive model of tube. The Drucker–Prager model could accurately simulate these issues
the steel tube. The Young's modulus Es and Poisson's ratio ϑs for steel [69]. The Drucker-Prager Hardening sub-option was used to define the
were taken as 200 GPa and 0.3, respectively. An idealized five-stage yield stage of the concrete core. The angle of friction and the flow stress
stress-strain model suggested by Han et al. [58] was applied in the FE ratio are set to 20° and 0.8, respectively [22]. The typical stress-strain
models to define the constitutive behavior of the steel, as displayed in curve of the confined concrete used in the present study is shown in
Fig. 5. This model could predict the Elastoplastic behavior of structural Fig. 6.
steel material and has been widely used in many numerical studies to The ascending region of the stress-strain curve (part OA) is
represent the constitutive behavior of the steel tube of the circular expressed using the equations proposed by Mander et al. [70] as fol-
[58,67], square and rectangular [28,68], dodecagonal [60], and special- lows:
shaped [29] composite members. As shown in Fig. 5, the steel has an  
0 εc
elastic behavior up to proportional stress limit fp (fp = 0.8fsy) and the f cc λ =ε0cc  
0
corresponding strain of εp(εp = 0.8εy). Then the stress increases with σc ¼  λ 0 ≤ εc ≤ εcc ð6Þ
a parabola behavior until the yield strength of fy. The steel shows a con- λ−1 þ εc = 0
εcc
sistent plastic plateau with the stress equal to the yield strength fsy
within the range of yield strain εy and strain at the onset of strain- where σc and εc are the axial compressive strength of concrete and the
hardening εsh (εsh = 10εy). The steel then shows a linear strain harden- corresponding strain, respectively. fcc′ is the axial compressive strength
ing behavior with the slope equal to the strain hardening modulus Esh of confined concrete, εcc′ presents the compressive strain of confined
until attaining the ultimate stress fu with the corresponding strain of concrete at its ultimate strength, and λ is given as:
εu (εu = 100εy).
E
For performing nonlinear analysis that involves large inelastic λ¼
c.  ð7Þ
0
strains using ABAQUS, it is required to define the true stress and loga- Ec − f cc
ε0cc
rithmic plastic true strain curves. The following equations can be
employed for converting the nominal stress and strain to the corre-
sponding true stress and strain: in which Ec is Young's modulus of concrete and is recommended by ACI
[71] as follows:
σ true ¼ σ nom ð1 þ ε nom Þ ð3Þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
0
Ec ¼ 3320 γc f c þ 6900 ðMPaÞ ð8Þ
εtrue ¼ ln ð1 þ εnom Þ ð4Þ

where, σtrue and εtrue are the true stress and true strain, respectively, and It can be recognized from the literature [26,72] that the compressive
σnom and εnom represent the nominal stress and nominal strain, respec- strength of standard concrete cylinders f′c may not present the actual
tively. For describing the plastic behavior of steel in ABAQUS, the elastic strength of the concrete used in composite columns due to the size of
strain must be subtracted from the total true strain to achieve the log the column, the concrete quality, and the loading rate. Since it is difficult
plastic strain of steel εpl
ln, as follows:
to take into account the effects of the concrete quality and loading rate, a
single strength reduction factor can be used to approximately account
εpl
ln
¼ εtrue −εe ¼ εtrue −σ true=Es ð5Þ for the effects of these parameters, which is a function of the column
size. Liang [26] modified the equation of strength reduction factor γc,
where εe denotes the true elastic strain, and Es represents the Elastic which was first recommended by Sakino [72] for considering the effect
Modulus of steel. of column size on the compressive strength of the concrete core. The

Fig. 5. The five-stage stress-strain response of structural steels. Fig. 6. General stress-strain curve for confined concrete in CFST stub columns.

5
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

strength reduction coefficient γc, recommended by Liang [26] was used The strain εc′ at fc′ of unconfined concrete can be taken as:
in this study to take into account the size effect on f′c as follows:
8 0
γc ¼ 1․85D−0․135 ð9Þ >
> 0:002 if γ c f c ≤28 ðMPaÞ
c < 0
ε0c ¼ 0:002 þ γc f c −28 if 28 < γ c f 0c ≤82 ðMPaÞ ð12Þ
in which Dc represents the depth of the concrete core. >
> 54000
: 0
It is a well-known fact that the laterally confining pressure frp 0:003 if γ c f c > 82 ðMPaÞ
provided by the steel tube enhances the compressive strength fcc′ and
the corresponding strain εcc′ of the restrained concrete. Liang and
The equations for predicting the lateral confining pressure provided
Fragomeni [23] incorporated the strength reduction coefficient γc into
by different shapes of steel tubes are listed in Table 1. Also, the models
the proposed formula of Mander et al. [70] for calculating fcc′ and εcc′ as
for defining the post-peak region of the stress-strain curve shown in
follows:
Fig. 6 are included in Table. 1. The accuracy of FE analysis highly depends
0 0 on the efficiency of the lateral confining pressure model. Both the mate-
f cc ¼ γ c f c þ 4:1 f rp ð10Þ
rial properties and geometry of the column affect the lateral confining
!! pressure. Eqs. (13), (14), and (15) were used for estimating frp provided
f rp
ε 0cc ¼ ε0c 1 þ 20:5 0 ð11Þ by circular steel tube [23,73]. The post-peak behavior of the circular con-
γc f c
fined concrete can be predicted through Eqs. (16) and (17) [18,23] in
which βc is the concrete degradation coefficient to take into account

Table 1
Post-peak behavior of the concrete core confined by the different sectional shapes of steel tube.

Sectional shape Description No. of equation Equation

8
The lateral confining pressure (13) > 2t D
>
< 0:7ðϑe −0:5Þ f if ≤47
D−2t sy t
f rp ¼

>
> D D
: 0:006241−0:0000357 f sy if 47< ≤150
t t
(14)  0  0  0 2 0
ϑe ¼ 0:2312 þ 0:3582ϑ 0e −0:1524 ff c þ 4:843ϑ 0e ff c −9:169 ff c , ;0:04≤ fc
f sy
≤0:2
sy sy sy

(15) D3 2:58 D2 1:953 D

Circular ϑ0e ¼ 0:881 − 4 t þ 2 t þ 0:4011
8106 t 10 10


The post-peak behavior (Parts AB and BC) (16) < β f 0 þ εcu −εc  f 0 −β f 0 
>
if ε0cc <ε c ≤εcu
c cc cc c cc
σc ¼ εcu −ε0cc
>
: 0
βc f cc if ε c >ε cu
8
(17) > D
>
< 1:0 if t ≤40
βc ¼


>
> 339 D 2 10085 D D
: − þ 1:35 if 40< ≤150
7 t 6 t t
10 10
8 0
The post-peak behavior (Parts AB and BC) (18) >
> f cc if ε 0cc <εc ≤0:005
>
<

0 15  0 0 
σ c ¼ βc f cc þ 102 −εc f cc −β c f cc if 0:005<εc ≤0:015
>
> 10 3
>
: 0
β f if εc >0:015
8 c cc
(19) >
> B
> 1:0 if ≤24
>
>
> t
>
Square < 1
B2
>
8 B


B
βc ¼ − 3 þ 0:85 if 24< ≤42
>
> 10 4 t 10 t t
>
>
2

>
> 62 B 11225 B B
>
> − þ 0:705288 if 42< ≤100
: 6
810
t 106 t t


The lateral confining pressure (20) >
> BþD BþD
>
< 0:0592−0:0006922 2t f sy if 17≤ <63
2t
f rp ¼

>
> BþD BþD
>
: 0:0065311−0:0000044 f sy if 63≤ ≤103
2t 2t
8

The post-peak behavior (Parts AB and BC) (21) < β f 0 þ εcu −εc  f 0 −β f 0 
>
if ε0cc <εc ≤εcu
c cc cc c cc
Hexagonal σc ¼ εcu −ε0cc
>
: 0
βc f cc if εc >εcu
0
(22) βc ¼ 0:8726−0:006f c , ;47≤ BþD ≤103
8
 2t
The lateral confining pressure (23) >
> 2508 3977 D D
>
> − f if 17< <47
>
>
10
5
107 t sy
t
>
<
4465 15 D D
f rp ¼ − 7 f sy if 47≤ <150
>
> 106 10 t t
>
>
>
> D
>
: 0, ;0 if ≥150
8 " 0 t
Octagonal  #
The post-peak behavior (Parts AB and BC) (24) >
> f cc ðα c −1Þ εc −ε0cc
> 0
  if ε0cc <εc ≤εe
< f cc þ
>
εe −ε0cc
σc ¼

>
> 0
f ðβ −α c Þðεc −εe Þ
>
> 0
: α c f cc þ cc c if εe <εc ≤εcu
ðε cu Þ
(25) αc = 0.9729 − 0.0091γcfc′
(26) βc = 0.9987 − 0.0107γcfc′

6
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

the confinement effects on the post-peak residual strength and ductility
of the concrete core.
The square steel tube mostly improves the ductility of the filled con-
crete, and the provided lateral confining pressure is negligible [26,74].
Therefore, it can be assumed that frp in square CFST columns is zero
and the effective compressive strength of the concrete core and the cor-
responding strain can be specified by fcc′ = γcf′c and εcc′ = ε′,c respectively.
The post-peak region of the confined concrete in square CFST columns
can be predicted by Eq. (18) suggested by Tomii and Sakino [75].
Liang [25,26] performed a series of fiber element analysis on square
CFST columns and shown that specimens with Bt ≤24 were less sensitive
to local buckling and proposed βc = 1.0 for square CFSTs with stocky
steel tube. Liang et al. [74] recommended βc for square composite col-
umns with 33< Bt ≤100. However, it has been found that the proposed
βc may lead to conservative results in specimens with 24≤ Bt ≤42. There-
fore, the expression for calculating βc recommended in Refs. [25, 26, 74]
was modified here and expressed by Eq. (19).
Hassanein et al. [40] proposed equations for predicting the value of
frp in hexagonal CFST short columns based on the experimental test re-
sults of specimens with BþD
2t ranged between 17 and 103. However, it has
been found from the FE results that the proposed model may lead to
conservative predictions of the ultimate axial strengths of hexagonal
CFSTs with 17≤ BþD2t <63. Therefore, the suggested equation was modi-
fied here and given by Eq. (20). The residual strength of the concrete
core confined by the hexagonal steel tube was defined by Eqs. (21)
and (22) [18,23,40].
Eq. (23) proposed by Patel et al. [76] was used to determine the con-
finement pressure of octagonal CFST columns. The proposed Eq. (23)
was applicable for octagonal CFSTs with Dt >17. Also, the suggested
models suppose that a slender octagonal steel tube with Dt >150 cannot
provide any confining pressure. The post-peak behavior of the concrete
core was determined by Eq. (24) given by Patel et al. [76]. The strains εe
and εcu in Eq. (24) were the compressive strains of the concrete core at
points B and C, respectively (see Fig. 6). Dai and Lam [52] suggested that
εe and εcu could be taken as 10ε′c and 30ε′, c respectively. αc and βc in
Eq. (24) are the reduction factors and depend on the compressive
strength of the concrete core [52]. Eqs. (25) and (26) suggested by
Patel et al. [76] were adopted for determining αc and βc, respectively.
FE analysis was performed on the circular specimen CU-70 [7] to
evaluate the effects of employing the different constitutive models for
the concrete core on the load-strain history. The geometric details and
material properties of specimen CU-70 were described in Table 2. The
reason for selecting a circular specimen is attributed to the fact that
compared with other cross-sections, the circular steel tube can highly
confine the concrete core and improve the overall performance of the
CFST column, i.e., ultimate axial strength and ductility. Therefore, the
differences between the confining of the concrete core by different
shapes of steel tubes that have been considered by concrete constitutive
relationships can be well distinguished. Fig. 7 compares the experimen-
tal load-axial curve of the specimen CU-70 with the FE analysis. It can be
observed from the figure that the pre-peak region of the curve was well
predicted using different models. This may be because at this step, the
constituent components of the column mainly had linear behavior,

Table 2
Ultimate axial strengths of CFST columns with different sectional shapes.

Sectional shape Specimens D or B (mm) t (mm) L (mm) D

t or Bt fsy (MPa) f′c (MPa) Nu,Exp (kN) Nu,FE (kN) N u,FE Ref.
Nu,Exp

CU-022 140.0 6.50 602.0 22.0 313.0 23.80 1666.0 1661.9 0.99 [32]
CU-040 200.0 5.00 840.0 40.0 265.8 27.15 2016.9 1993.0 0.98 [7]
CU-047 140.0 3.00 602.0 47.0 285.0 28.15 893.0 986.1 1.08 [32]
CU-070 280.0 4.00 840.0 70.0 272.6 31.15 3025.2 2983.5 0.99 [7]
CU-100 300.0 3.00 900.0 100.0 232.0 27.23 2810.0 2673.3 0.95 [32]
CU-150 300.0 2.00 840.0 150.0 341.7 27.23 2607.6 2572.8 0.99 [7]
Circular C8 115.04 4.92 300.0 23.4 365 89.16 1787.0 1686.5 0.94 [33]
C9 115.02 5.02 300.0 22.9 365 48.96 1413 1325.7 0.94 [33]
C11 114.29 3.75 300.0 30.5 343 48.96 1067 1023.3 0.96 [33]
C14 114.54 3.84 300.0 29.8 343 84.1 1359 1263.8 0.93 [33]
S1 127.0 3.15 609.6 40.4 356.0 30.45 917.0 995.8 1.09 [32]
S2 127.0 4.34 609.6 29.2 357.0 26.04 1095.0 1148.0 1.05
S3 127.0 4.55 609.6 27.9 322.0 23.80 1113.0 1070.0 0.96
S4 127.0 5.67 609.6 22.3 312.0 23.80 1202.0 1227.0 1.02
S5 127.0 7.47 609.6 17.0 347.0 23.80 2069.0 1850.0 0.89
C-1-1 100.3 4.18 300.0 24.0 550.0 61.70 1490.0 1396.0 0.94 [10]
Square C-1-2 101.5 4.18 300.0 24.0 550.0 61.70 1535.0 1419.7 0.93
C-3 182.8 4.18 540.0 44.0 550.0 61.70 3590.0 3365.5 0.94
SU-70 280.0 4.00 840.0 70.0 272.6 31.15 3401.1 3503.0 1.03 [7]
HST1-A 392.0 3.73 1200.0 105 311.0 32.2 4947.0 4730.3 0.96 [24]
HST1-B 396.0 3.71 1200.0 107 311.0 32.2 4618 4777.5 1.03
HST2-A 392.0 5.78 1200.0 68 321.0 32.2 6001 5475.3 0.91
HST2-B 396.0 5.96 1200.0 66 321.0 32.2 6041 5723.6 0.95
HST3-A 394.0 3.72 1200.0 106.0 311.0 49.0 6827.0 6099.4 0.89
HST3-B 396.0 3.76 1200.0 105.0 311.0 49.0 6803.0 6081.1 0.89
Hexagonal
HST4-A 398.0 5.89 1200.0 68.0 321.0 49.0 7079.0 6825.9 0.96
HST4-B 392.0 5.81 1200.0 67.0 321.0 49.0 7289.0 7153.6 0.98
2HN 150.0 2.00 300.0 75.0 341.3 30.10 989.0 930.6 0.94 [7]
3HN 150.0 3.20 300.0 47.0 300.2 30.10 1094.0 1136.9 1.04
4HN 150.0 4.00 300.0 38.0 294.3 30.10 1316.0 1256.3 0.95
2MN 150.0 2.00 300.0 75.0 341.3 21.90 771.0 812.3 1.05
3MN 150.0 3.20 300.0 47.0 300.2 21.90 916.0 950.6 1.04
4MN 150.0 4.0 300.0 38.0 294.3 21.90 1193.0 1145.0 0.96
Octagonal
OST1-A 485.0 3.85 1500.0 126.0 311.0 32.20 9297.0 9065.0 0.98 [23]
OST2-B 476.0 5.89 1500.0 81.0 321.0 32.20 10,713.0 9762.6 0.91
Mean 0.98
Standard deviation (SD) 0.055
Coefficient of variation (CoV) 0.056

7
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 7. Comparison of load-axial strain responses of the circular specimen CU-70 [7] with numerical results using different constitutive model for the concrete core.
and the concrete model had an insignificant effect on the member's ini-
tial axial stiffness. This observation coincides with the numerical studies
conducted by the authors on concrete-filled double skin steel tubular
columns [2,54]. By reaching the peak-point, the predicted results
began to deviate. As shown in Fig.7, the numerical strengths Pu,FE ratios
to the experimental strength Pu,Exp were 0.99, 0.85, 0.96, and 0.98 for the
circular, square, hexagonal, and octagonal concrete models, respec-
tively. The divergence of results was more evident in the post-peak re-
gion of the curve. These observations reinforce the fact that the
circular steel tubes can efficiently confine the concrete core and im-
prove the load-bearing capacity and ductility of the column due to
their better stability against local buckling than the polygonal tubes. Be-
sides, octagonal and hexagonal steel tubes provide a better confinement
effect on the concrete core than the square one.
3. Validation of the developed FE model
To verify the developed FE simulation, the ultimate axial loads, full
load-strain (or displacement) histories, and the failure modes of CFST
short columns obtained by the numerical models were compared
against the corresponding test results reported by Schneider [49],
Huang et al. [7], Giakoumelis and Lam [50], Liu et al. [10], and Ding
et al. [38]. The geometric details and material properties of a total of
35 tested specimens along with their experimental and predicted ulti-
mate axial strengths were listed in Table 2, where Pu,Exp is the experi-
mental compressive strength and Pu,FE presents the ultimate axial load
predicted by the nonlinear FE analysis. If the concrete cube strength
(fcu) is provided in the references, Eq. (27) proposed in Ref. [22] was ap-
plied to convert the value of fcu to the corresponding cylinder compres-
sive strengths (fc′).


0 f cu
f c ¼ 0:76 þ 0:2 log 10 f cu
19:6
As shown in Table 2, the developed FE model led to an acceptable
prediction of the axial load capacities of CFST columns with different
shapes. The average axial load capacity predicted by the FE analysis
was 98% of the experimental one. The standard deviation (SD) and coef-
ficient of variation (CoV) of P u,FE=Pu,Exp were 0.055 and 0.056, respectively.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the FE modeling provided reliable
predictions for the ultimate strengths of the axially loaded CFSTs.
Load-deformation histories can provide valuable information on the
elastic axial stiffness, axial load capacity, residual strength, and ductility
of CFST columns. Fig. 8 compares the axial load-strain (or deformation)
curves of CFSTs obtained from FE analysis with those from experimental
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
results. It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the described FE modeling ap-
proach could predict all the specifications of the experimental axial
load-strain (or deformation) curves with reasonable accuracy. The com-
puted initial axial stiffness, ascending behavior, axial compressive
strength, and post-peak behavior were in good agreement with the ex-
perimental results. Fig. 9 shows a comparison between the experimen-
tal and numerical failure modes of CFST columns with different
sectional shapes. As shown in Fig. 9, the failure mechanisms of all four
types of CFST columns captured from the nonlinear FE analysis were
in excellent agreement with those from the experiments. Overall, the
verification test results showed that the utilized FE modeling approach
is capable of precisely replicating experimental failure mechanisms,
load-deformation histories, and axial compressive strength.
4. Analysis and discussion
The verified FE models of the CFST stub columns with different sec-
tional types were employed to analyze their structural performance.
The information of the evaluated specimens was given in Table 3,
where P,H, and t are the perimeter, height, and thickness of the CFST
stub columns, respectively. The perimeter P of all of the specimens
were considered to be identical and equal to 1256.64 mm to make the
specimens comparable. A similar approach has been used in comparing
the behavior of CFST columns with different cross-sectional shapes
[29,30]. The length of all the specimens was 1200 mm. Therefore, the
height of columns was assumed long enough so that the effects of the
endplates were prevented ðH=D≈3Þ [39]. It should be noted that the
steel tube yield strength and concrete compressive strength were iden-
tical in all specimens and in the range of the experimental specimens
used for the verification analysis. (See Table 3.)
ð27Þ 4.1. Load-deformation
Fig. 10 shows the axial load N vs. axial strain ε curves for the consid-
ered CFSTs in the study under compression. The loads shared by steel
tubes and concrete cores are also shown and compared against the cor-
responding axial strain ε. As shown in Fig. 10, there are four character-
istic points for all of the CFST specimens specified on the N – ε curves.
The steel proportional limit beyond which steel tube has an elastic-
plastic behavior is denoted by A. Point B is the stage in which yielding
or local buckling of the steel tube happens. The columns reach their ul-
timate axial strength at Point C. Point D was set to ε = 0.02 [29]. The
stress distribution of the concrete core in the longitudinal direction
(σc,l) at characteristic points can provide valuable information regarding
the overall behaviors and composite actions of CFST columns. Fig. 11
8
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 8. Comparison of numerical and experimental loading histories.

Fig. 8 (continued).

9
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 8 (continued).

Fig. 8 (continued).

10
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 9. Failure modes of CFST columns.

presents σc,l of CFST columns at their mid-height during the loading Stage O-A: Elastic performance. During this region, the performance
procedure. of the columns with various shape was similar. The steel tubes and
Based on the results, each N – ε curve could be divided into four infilled concrete carried the axial compressive load independently. As
areas, as follows: shown in Fig. 11, the longitudinal stress distributions across the

Table 3
Details of the tested specimens.

Sectional shape P (mm) t (mm) L (mm) fsy (MPa) f′c (MPa) Nu,FE (kN)

1256.64 6.00 1200.00 345.0 51.0 1661.9

Circular
1256.64 6.00 1200.00 345.0 51.0 995.8

Square
1256.64 6.00 1200.00 345.0 51.0 4730.3

Hexagonal
1256.64 6.00 1200.00 345.0 51.0 930.6

Octagonal

11
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Table 3
Material properties and results of parametric studies of CFST columns.

Sectional shape No. fsy (MPa) f′c (MPa) NFE (kN) SCR CCR DI EA (103kN)

1 235 51 8210 0.21 0.79 22.86 5297

2 275 51 8586 0.23 0.77 22.92 5323
3 355 51 9194 0.27 0.73 21.62 5339
4 450 51 9881 0.31 0.69 17.78 5356
5 550 51 10,657 0.33 0.67 17.70 5365
6 345 24 6001 0.36 0.64 27.59 4211
Circular 7 345 33 7177 0.29 0.71 25.97 4284
8 345 70 11,275 0.16 0.84 22.10 4318
9 345 90 13,665 0.13 0.87 18.48 4394
10 235 51 9431 0.18 0.82 2.23 6504
11 275 51 9623 0.19 0.81 2.33 6525
12 355 51 9915 0.21 0.79 2.18 6536
13 450 51 10,210 0.23 0.77 2.17 6563
14 550 51 10,497 0.25 0.75 1.90 6584
15 345 24 5833 0.29 0.71 4.80 5072
Square 16 345 33 7179 0.25 0.75 4.38 5163
17 345 70 12,885 0.17 0.83 3.16 5265
18 345 90 15,827 0.13 0.87 2.81 5351
19 235 51 6980 0.25 0.75 3.86 4503
20 275 51 7249 0.27 0.73 4.26 4522
21 355 51 7996 0.31 0.69 3.64 4546
22 450 51 8120 0.36 0.64 3.31 4565
23 550 51 8678 0.38 0.62 2.82 4566
24 345 24 5333 0.43 0.56 6.25 3678
Hexagonal
25 345 33 6200 0.37 0.63 5.8 3731
26 345 70 9644 0.23 0.77 4.5 3758
27 345 90 11,514 0.19 0.81 3.35 3818
28 235 51 7366 0.23 0.77 4.75 4830
29 275 51 7732 0.26 0.74 4.94 4850
30 355 51 8434 0.30 0.70 4.80 4876
31 450 51 9125 0.34 0.66 4.65 4897
32 550 51 9486 0.41 0.59 4.30 4917
33 345 24 5627 0.42 0.58 7.5 3815
Octagonal
34 345 33 6551 0.36 0.64 6.96 3876
35 345 70 10,264 0.22 0.78 5.89 3906
36 345 90 12,373 0.19 0.81 4.42 3971

concrete cores were uniform. It should be noted that the stress distribu-
tion over the cross-section of the square concrete core was not uniform.
However, the differences between the values of σc,l around the concrete
perimeter were insignificant. Therefore, it could be assumed that even
the longitudinal stress distribution of the concrete in the square CFST
column was almost uniform at this stage.
Stage A-B: Elastic-plastic performance. From the onset of this stage,
the columns started to show inelastic performance. Compared with
the elastic step, the stiffness of this stage was lower. The reason was
that with increasing the axial load, cracks appeared in the concrete,
and hence, its volume initiated to expand in the lateral direction. The
results, displayed in Fig. 11, show that for the circular column, the lon-
gitudinal stress distribution of concrete remained uniform over the
cross-section. In contrast, for other members, the stress concentration
occurred at the corner points. This result could be explained by the
fact that the circular steel tube provided uniform confinement. By con-
trast, steel tubes with angled cross-sections provided uneven confine-
ment. Hence, the maximum longitudinal stress of concrete happened
at the corners. The loads carried by steel tubes were attained the maxi-
mum amounts at Point B. As shown in Fig. 10, the strain corresponding
to the maximum steel load-bearing capacity εcu,s for circular, square,
hexagonal, and octagonal specimens are 2010 με, 2380 με, 2071 με,
and 2194 με, respectively. It was shown that steel tubes reached their
maximum strengths sooner than the concrete core.
Stage B-C: Plastic performance. During this region, the longitudinal
stresses of the concrete cores kept increasing and exceeded the concrete
cylinder strength due to the increment of the confinement effect. This
issue was evident in all specimens but at different intensities, as
shown in Fig. 11. A comparison of concrete longitudinal stresses showed
that the increase of stresses on the circular, hexagonal, and octagonal
sections was more significant than the square one. The longitudinal
stresses adjacent to the flat regions of the steel tubes were smaller
than the corner points. However, for the hexagonal and octagonal spec-
imens, even the concrete stresses at mid-parts exceeded the concrete
cylinder strength by 7.45% and 10% respectively, as shown in Figs. 11
(c3) and (d3).
By contrast, the values of the concrete longitudinal stresses at
mid-parts of the square CFST column cannot even reach to the concrete
cylinder strength, as shown in Fig. 11(b3). This might be due to the dif-
ference in the susceptibility of flat steel tubes to local buckling and also
the inner angles of cross-sections. The side widths of the square, hexag-
onal, and octagonal steel tubes are 314.2, 209.4, and 157.1, respectively,
which led to width-to-thickness ratios of 52.4, 34.9, and 26.2, respec-
tively. Hence, the mid-part of the square steel tube was more vulnerable
to local buckling, while the hexagonal and octagonal steel tubes showed
better local stability.
To further discuss the difference in the capability of steel tubes in
confining the infilled concrete, the cross-section of the polygonal CFST
column is illustrated in Fig. 12. The concrete core can be segmented
into enhanced (confined) and non-enhanced (unconfined) parts.
Based on the numerical work of Mander et al. [70], the boundary be-
tween the enhanced and non-enhanced zones forms a parabola shape,
in which the angle between the intersection of the side of the steel
tube and the tangent of the boundary is 45°, as indicated in Fig. 12.
The area of each unconfined parabola can be taken as
Auncon ¼ 2=3s2 tan 2 ϴ, and the cross-sectional area of the concrete core
is Ac = ns2 tan α in which n represents the number of sides,α ¼ πn, and
s is the radius of the polygonal section. The polygon confinement effec-
tiveness coefficient kn [70] is the ratio of the area of the effectively con-
fined section Aeff to the cross-sectional area of the concrete core Ac (see

12
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 10. Load vs. axial strain curves of CFSTs, concrete cores and steel tubes.

Fig. 11. The longitudinal stress distributions of infilled concrete at four characteristic points (Unit: Pa).

13
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 11 (continued).
Eq. (28)) and can be used to assess the capability of steel tubes in pro-
viding the confinement effect.
n lar section was higher than the other specimens. By contrast, the square
Ac − ∑ Auncon
Aeff i¼1
kn ¼ ¼ ð28Þ
Ac Ac
For the considered specimens in the study, the values of kn in the
square, hexagonal, and octagonal sections were 0.33, 0.57, and 0.71, re-
spectively, and the area of each unconfined parabolas in square, hexag-
onal, and octagonal sections were equal to 0.1675Ac, 0.072Ac, and
0.036Ac, respectively. It showed that the non-enhanced area related to
each side of octagonal and hexagonal CFST columns was less than the
square CFST column, respectively. This effect can also be found in
Figs. 11(b) and (c). For the circular CFST column, where kn equaled to
1 [43], the circular steel tube enabled to efficiently confine the whole pe-
rimeter of the concrete core, as shown in Fig. 11(a).
Fig. 12. Different zones of concrete core in polygonal CFST columns.
14
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
The strains corresponding to the ultimate strengths εcu for circular,
square, hexagonal, and octagonal specimens were found as 5937 με,
3035 με, 4477 με, and 5085 με, respectively. The value of εcu in the circu-
CFST stub column had the smallest εcu compared with others, and by in-
creasing the number of flat sides to six and eight, the value of εcu became
closer to that of the circular column. This again reflected the fact that
local stability of hexagonal and octagonal steel tubes was better than
the square one, which led to the higher ductility of hexagonal and octag-
onal sections.
Stage C-D: Plastic performance. At this stage, the axial load started to
reduce. As shown in Fig. 10, the N − ε curves showed strain-softening
behavior after reaching the peak loads due to the buckling of the steel
tubes. However, the rate of strength decrement is more evident in the
square CFST stub column. It was found that at a later stage, the
strain-softening behavior of the circular, octagonal, and hexagonal con-
crete cores are compensated by the hardening effect of the steel tubes
and appropriate confinement to the concrete. This effect raised the
strength again, which was not shown in the square CFST stub column.
It could be concluded that the square steel tube was more susceptible
to local buckling, and the confinement effect provided by the square
steel tube was less than the other sections. Fig. 13 shows the out-of-
plane deflection of the steel tubes along their longitudinal middle line
when the axial load dropped to 90% of the ultimate axial load in the
post-peak stage. It can be observed that the square steel tube had the
largest outward deflection, whereas the circular steel tube showed the
smallest outward deformation. Besides, the out-of-plane deformations
of octagonal and hexagonal steel tubes were remarkably smaller than
the square tube. This may be due to the fact that the joints of flat ele-
ments of steel tubes in polygonal CFST columns act as support. The
square steel tube has more flat areas that are away from the corners
compared with hexagonal and octagonal steel tubes. Hence, it has less
buckling strength. Another issue is that octagonal and hexagonal steel
tubes shown larger domains of the local outward protuberance than
the square tube, which is due to their better ductility.
The unevenness of longitudinal stresses at concrete cores of the
square, hexagonal and octagonal sections became evident with the fur-
ther increase of the axial strain. It is shown in Fig. 11 that by reaching
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 13. Normal deformation of steel tubes.
Point D, the longitudinal concrete stresses reduced. This issue was more
evident in the square CFST column, as shown in Fig. 11(b4). By contrast,
the circular CFST column showed the least stress reduction, as depicted
in Fig. 11(a4). Evaluating the longitudinal stresses of octagonal and hex-
agonal concrete cores at Point D indicated that the rate of stress decre-
ment in these sections was less than the square one. This issue was in
coincidence with the strain-softening behavior of specimens and again
augments the fact that the provided confinement effect of hexagonal
and octagonal steel tubes was better than the square section.
The ratios of the maximal longitudinal stress to the average amount
of the longitudinal stress over the concrete cross-section σ c, max=σ c,ave can
be used to compare the magnitude of the unevenness of the longitudi-
nal stresses in different cross-sections [29]. Fig. 14 shows the
σ c, max=σ −ε histories of CFST specimens. The σ c, max=σ c,ave ratio of the
c,ave
square CFST column was significantly higher than other sections,
whereas the value of σ c, max=σ c,ave ratio for circular CFST column was almost
close to 1 during the loading history. The σ c, max=σ c,ave ratios of octagonal
and hexagonal sections were remarkably less than the square one. The
values of σ c, max=σ c,ave ratios for the circular, square, hexagonal, and octag-
onal CFST columns at ε = 0.02 were 1.15, 3.8, 2.42, and 1.78, respec-
tively. The results indicated that the stress distributions in square
concrete were non-uniform, whereas the stress distributions of the con-
crete core of octagonal and hexagonal CFST columns were more uniform
than the square specimen. Hence, it can be concluded that the confine-
ment effect provided by the circular steel tube was the most significant,
Fig. 14. Comparison of concrete longitudinal stress between different CFST columns.
15
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
whereas the square steel tube provides the lowest confinement effect.
Compared with the square section, octagonal and hexagonal steel
tubes can confine the concrete core with higher intensities, respectively.
4.2. Interaction of steel tube and concrete core
It was verified that the trends of N − ε curves and the concrete lon-
gitudinal stress distributions of the square, hexagonal, and octagonal
CFST columns, were very similar. To examine the influence of the
shape of the column on the confinement sensitivity, the interaction
stresses p among steel tubes and infilled concretes were captured
from different points along the concrete perimeters. It should be noted
that interaction stresses p were taken from the cross section at the
mid-height of the columns to eliminate the influence of the endplates.
Fig. 15 shows the resulting p − ε curves of CFST columns. During the
elastic stage, the Poisson's ratio of the concrete core was in the range
of 0.15 and 0.2, which was smaller than the steel tube (ϑs = 0.3).
Hence, steel tubes did not restrain concrete cores at this stage since
their lateral deformations were larger than the concrete cores. There-
fore, there was no interaction between the constituent components of
columns, as shown in Fig. 15. With further increase in the axial load,
the cracks spread in the concretes, and the rate of the volume enlarge-
ment of the concrete cores exceeded the steel tubes, and the confine-
ment effect provided by the steel tubes thereby initiated. The
comparison of p − ε curves showed that the stress distribution in the
circular column is uniform, whereas the maximum confining stresses
tended to occur at corner points of the cross-sections at the joints of
flat elements of steel tubes. This effect could also be shown in Fig. 11.
To compare the effective interaction stress of CFST stub columns
with polygonal steel tubes to the circular one, the p1 − ε responses of
specimens were presented in Fig. 16, where p1 is the interaction stress
at point 1. It can be found in Fig. 16 that the p1 − ε curves showed dif-
ferent behavior due to different cross-sectional shapes. The initial stiff-
ness of the p1 − ε curves of CFST columns with polygonal steel tubes
was almost similar, whereas the circular section exhibits a smaller initial
stiffness. Another issue was that the values of p1 in the square, hexago-
nal, and octagonal columns at their peak loads are approximately simi-
lar and are more significant than the corresponding stress in the circular
section. For the circular CFST column, the interaction stress p1 displays
minor but nearly steady improvement during the p1 − ε curve. The
p1 − ε curves of three columns with polygonal steel tubes showed a
similar behavior prior to the ultimate axial strength and then turned
apart. This discrepancy was caused by the different levels of local buck-
ling behavior of steel sections. It could be concluded that, in general, the
composite mechanism in hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns was
similar to that of the square CFST column.
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 15. Confining stress p− axial strain ε responses of CFST columns.

5. Parametric studies
A series of parametric studies were carried out to assess the effects of
steel yield strength and concrete compressive strength on the behavior
of CFST stub columns with different cross-sectional shapes under axial
loads. The structural performance of CFST columns was investigated
through the N − ε and p − ε response curves. Since the distribution of
p around the perimeter of the concrete was not uniformed, the average
stresses between the steel tubes and the concrete cores at the mid-
heights are employed in the following investigations. The basic param-
eters utilized in the analysis were D = 400 mm, t = 6 mm, and H =
1200 mm, fsy= 345 MPa, and fc′ = 51 MPa. It should be noted that the
analyzed hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns were considered as
the inscribed sections.

Fig. 16. Comparison between p1 − ε histories of CFST stub columns.

16
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
To gain a better insight into the effects of material strengths on the
performance of CFST columns, Ductility index (DI), Steel Contribution
Ratio (SCR), Concrete Contribution Ratio (CCR), and compressive rigid-
ity of CFST columns were evaluated. SCR and CCR were used to assess
the contribution of the steel tube and the concrete core on the ultimate
axial strength of CFST columns, as follows:
N su
SCR ¼ ð29Þ
Nu:FE
Ncu
CCR ¼ ð30Þ
Nu:FE
where Nsu and Ncu are the axial loads carried by the steel tube and the
concrete core, respectively, at the peak load (Nu. FE) of the section. CCR
and SCR indices could be used to show the effects of material properties
and cross-sectional areas on the role of constituent components of CFST
columns in load-bearing capacity.
DI was used to assess the ability of CFST columns to tolerate exten-
sive plastic deformation without notable strength degradation. DI was
defined as:
εu
DI ¼ ð31Þ
εy
where εu expresses the axial strain of the CFST column when the load
falls to 90% in the post-peak stage. In the case where there is no
strength descending, the εuis the ultimate axial strain. εy is the yield
strain of the short column and is taken as ε0.75/0.75, where ε0.75 rep-
resents the axial strain of the column when the compressive load
achieves 75% of the column ultimate axial strength in the pre-peak
regime [23].
Fig. 17. Effect of fsy on N − ε histories.
17
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
For calculating the axial stiffness of composite members, an ap-
proach introduced by Huo et al. [77] was adopted. The stress-strain be-
havior of the steel material before reaching the plastic behavior is linear.
Beyond the plasticity, the secant modulus of the concrete reduces with
the increase of the stress due to the expansion of micro cracks. The se-
cant modulus corresponding to 0.4fc′ can be used in practice for
predicting the modulus of elasticity of concrete (Ec). Due to the develop-
ment of cracks in the concrete core, the secant compressive stiffness of
the CFST column also reduces with the increase of the axial compressive
load. The compressive stiffness of columns (EA) can be defined as the se-
cant stiffness corresponding to 0.4 of the ultimate axial strength of the
column (0.4Nu). The material properties and the obtained values for ul-
timate axial strengths and performance indices of considered samples
are listed in Table 3.
5.1. Steel tube yield strength
Fig. 17 shows the effects of fsy on the N − ε histories of CFST stub col-
umns. Also, the performance indices of CFST columns with different fsy
are presented in Fig. 18 and Table 3. It can be seen from Fig. 17 that
the steel yield strength does not have any significant impact on the gen-
eral shapes of the curves. Among the samples with different sectional
shapes but the same material properties, the compressive rigidity of
the square column was higher than others, and the hexagonal and oc-
tagonal sections show the lowest axial stiffness, as shown in Table 3.
This may be attributed to the different cross-sectional areas of the con-
crete core. With a similar perimeter, the concrete area of the square
CFST column was more than other sections, whereas hexagonal and oc-
tagonal sections were formed with the smallest concrete area. The influ-
ence fsy on the axial stiffness of specimens is presented in Fig. 18(a) in
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 18. Effects of fsy on performance indices of CFST columns.
which specimens with fsy = 235 MP were taken as the benchmark. As
shown in Fig. 18(a), increasing fsy has a negligible influence on the initial
axial stiffness of columns, and no relationship was observed between
the effect of the fsy on the axial stiffness of the column according to
the shape of the cross-section. The maximum increase in EA value was
less than 2%. A similar result was observed for the insignificant effect
of fsy on the axial stiffness of elliptical CFST stub columns [35,78].
18
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
It was shown that the ultimate axial loads and residual strengths of
CFST columns were improved with an increase in fsy, and the steel yield
strength had a strong effect on the ultimate strengths, as shown in
Fig. 18(b). The effect was proportional to the fsy. Taking samples with
fsy = 235 MP as the benchmark, it was observed that with the increase
of fsy by 17%,50%, 87%, and 134%, the ultimate strength enhancements
were 5.2%, 12%, 20%, and 31% for circular section, 3.8%, 9%, 14%, and 20%
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 19. Effects of fsy on p − ε histories.
for hexagonal section, 4.5%, 11%, 17% and 25% for octagonal section, and 2%,
5%, 8.3%, and 12% for square section, respectively. It should be noted that
although the square column had the largest cross-sectional area of steel
tube than other sections, fsy had the least impact on its ultimate axial
strength. This difference could be reasoned by the fact that the confine-
ment effect in the square CFST column was less than other sections,
whereas the circular steel tube provided the strongest confinement effect
on the concrete core. The intensity of the confinement effect provided by
octagonal and hexagonal steel tubes was better than the square one.
As shown in Table 3, when the material properties were identical,
the circular column showed the highest ductility, whereas the ductility
of the square column was smaller than others and the ductility indices
of octagonal and hexagonal specimens were more significant than the
square column. The effect of fsy on the ductility of CFST columns is pre-
sented in Fig. 18(c). As shown in Fig. 18(c), the values of DI in all CFST
column samples slightly enhanced with the increase of fsy up to
275 MPa and then reduced. Hence, it could be concluded that increasing
the yield strength of CFST columns made with normal strength steel
tubes was not an efficient method for improving the column ductility.
This effect agreed with findings in the previous research for circular
concrete-filled double steel tubular columns [79]. The results of CCR
and SCR are presented in Fig. 18(d) and Table 3. It was apparent that
the values of CCR reduced with the increase of fsy. The reason may be
attributed to the fact that the contribution of steel tubes to the
load-bearing capacities of columns increased with increasing fsy. The
steel yield strength had the highest effect on SCR of the octagonal CFST
column. This could be explained mathematically by the difference in
the nominal steel ratio α n ¼ AAcs , where As and Ac are the cross-sectional
area of steel tube and concrete core, respectively. The values of αn for
19
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
octagonal, hexagonal, circular, and square sections were 0.073, 0.068,
0.063, 0.063, respectively. It is a common fact that the steel nominal
ratio α n ¼ AAcs directly affects the ultimate axial strength of CFST columns.
Besides, the contribution of the steel tube to the load-bearing capacity of
the column increases with increasing αn, and the more the steel tube
contributes to the load-bearing capacity of the column, the more its
yield strength affects the compressive strength of the column.
Concerning the magnitude of CCR, the concrete core of the square
CFST column had the highest contribution in bearing the axial load.
This may be attributed to the lowest SCR in the square specimens than
other cross-sections. Besides, the local stability of the square steel tube
is lower than other cross-sections. The local buckling of the steel tube
increases the contribution of the concrete core by transferring part of
the axial load carried by the steel tube to the concrete core.
The effects of steel yield strength on p − ε curves of CFST columns
are presented in Fig. 19. It can be found that similar to the observations
for N − ε curves, the overall behaviors of p − ε curves were not sensitive
to the steel yield strength. However, the peak points highly depended
on the fsy and increased with the steel tube strengths. Fig. 18(e) shows
the influence of steel yield strength on the ultimate interaction stresses
pu, in which the obtained values of pu were normalized by the pu values
of the benchmark specimens with fsy = 235 MPa. It was observed that at
the peak point, the confinement effect in the circular column was higher
than the other sections. Besides, octagonal and hexagonal columns pre-
sented greater confinement effects than the square column, respec-
tively. This again reflected the fact that among different shapes of steel
tubes, the circular tube provides better confinement effects on the con-
crete core. At the next level, octagonal and hexagonal steel tubes in-
duced better confinement on the concrete core com.
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 20. Effects of fc′ on N − ε histories.
5.2. Concrete compressive strength
The effects of f′c on the N − ε curves of CFST columns are shown in
Fig. 20. Also, the performance indices of CFST columns with different f′c
are presented in Fig. 21 and Table 3. The effect of f′c on the axial stiffness
of specimens is shown in Fig. 21(a). As shown in the figure, increasing f′c
slightly improved the axial stiffness of CFST columns. The maximum in-
crease in EA occurred in the square section in which EA increased by only
5.5% with a 275% increase in f′.c Hence, it can be concluded that the effect
of f′c on the initial axial stiffness of CFST stub columns is insignificant.
Compared with the steel yield strength, the effect of f′c on the axial stiff-
ness was slightly more. This may be due to the fact that the elastic mod-
ulus of the concrete was increased by increasing f′.c The results indicated
that increasing the concrete strength significantly improved the ultimate
compressive strengths of composite columns, but with different intensi-
ties. As shown in Fig. 21(b), taking specimens with f′c = 24 MPa as the
benchmark, with the increase of f′c by 37.5%, 191.7%, and 275%, the ulti-
mate axial strengths improvements were 19.60%, 87.9%, and 127.7% for
circular section, 23.1%, 120.9%, and 171.33% for square section, 16.27%,
80.85%, and 115.91% for hexagonal section, and 16.43%, 82.41%, and
119.89% for octagonal section, respectively. Among different cross-
sectional shapes, the strength of the infilled concrete had the highest im-
pact on the ultimate axial strength of the square section, and the circular
and octagonal columns showed almost a similar sensitivity to concrete
strength. It might be due to the larger concrete cross-sectional area in
the square column than the others.
The failure mechanism of CFST columns could be predicted through
the post-peak axial load-deflection responses. It is shown in Fig. 20 that
the post-peak behavior of composite columns filled with normal
20
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
strength concrete (NSC) had a slow strength drop-off due to the ductile
behavior of CFST columns. This was particularly observed in circular,
hexagonal, and octagonal CFST columns, while that of the square CFST
column made with NSC was rather sharp. The post-peak regions of col-
umns filled with the high strength (HSC) concrete displayed a rapid
strength drop-off, which presents the brittle failure of CFST columns
that is not appropriate from the structural design perspective. It should
be noted that the effect of concrete strength on the ductility of compos-
ite columns was more evident in columns with polygonal steel tubes. As
shown in Fig. 21(c), the ductility indices of columns reduced with the
increase of the concrete strength. As the concrete strength increased
from 24 MPa to 90 MPa, the ductility indices of circular, square, hexag-
onal, and octagonal sections reduced by 33%, 55%, 46%, and 41%, respec-
tively. Hence, it could be concluded that the circular steel tube
potentially mitigated the brittle behavior of HSC compared to others.
Among CFST columns made with polygonal steel tubes, octagonal and
hexagonal shapes performed a better ductility. These observations
may be due to the difference in the intensity of the confinement effect
provided by steel tubes. As mentioned above, the circular steel tube pro-
vided the largest confinement effect on the concrete core, and the con-
finement effect provided by octagonal and hexagonal steel tubes was
better than the square one. This effect could also be reflected by the re-
sidual strengths shown in Fig. 20. The compressive strength of the con-
crete core in composite columns with polygonal steel tubes did not have
a significant impact on the residual strength, while the circular CFST col-
umn showed a significant residual strength even when HSC is used.
The effects of concrete strength on the values of the CCR and SCR are
depicted in Fig. 21(d). The results indicated that there was an approxi-
mately linear correlation between the concrete contribution ratio and
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 21. Effects of fc′ on performance indices of CFST columns.

its compressive strength. The contribution of the concrete core in the
overall axial strength of the columns increased with the increase of its
strength, while the steel contribution ratio decreases as the concrete
strength increases. In addition, the square CFST column prevented higher
values of CCR when NSC was used. For f′c = 70 MPa and 90 MPa, the CCR
of circular and the square CFST columns were almost the same. This may
be due to the larger cross-sectional area of the concrete core in the
square CFST column. Hence, the contribution of the square concrete
was more than other sections when NSC was used. However, in the
cases using HSC, the square steel tube did not appropriately confine the

21
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
Fig. 22. Effects of f′c on p − ε histories.
brittle concrete core, while the significant confinement effect provided
by the circular steel tube may let to a higher strength of the HSC. In
other words, the better confinement effect in the circular CFST column
outweighed its smaller concrete area and maintained the contribution
of the concrete core in the load-bearing capacity.
The effects of concrete strength on p − ε curves are shown in Fig. 22.
It is shown that changing the concrete compressive strength did not
have significant effect on the overall trend of the curves. However, the
interaction between steel tube and concrete core curves was delayed
with the increase of the concrete strength. Fig. 21(e) shows the effect
of concrete strength on pu in which specimens with f′c = 24 MPa were
taken as the benchmark. It can be observed that the values of pu reduce
with increasing the concrete strength. This influence was more evident
in specimens with polygonal steel tubes, especially the square CFST col-
umns. It might be due to the ununiformed confinements provided by
the polygonal steel tubes. The result agreed with the numerical work
of Tao et al. [28] who examined the behavior of square CFST stub col-
umns built with stainless steel tube.
6. Evaluation of available design strength models
The precision of design methods presented in Eurocode 4 (EC4) [46]
and ANSI/AISC360-16 [47] to predict the ultimate axial strengths of
22
Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424
CFST stub columns were evaluated. Besides, a unified design method
for estimating the axial strength of polygonal CFST short columns sug-
gested by Yu et al. [43] was assessed. To this end, the experimental
and numerical data collected from literature were compared with the
corresponding values predicted by the developed design method. It
should be noted that no design approach for hexagonal and octagonal
CFST columns has been defined in any of the current international de-
sign codes. Therefore, the capacity of polygonal CFST columns is usually
estimated by the equations of square and circular CFST columns. In total,
the ultimate axial strengths of 144 circular CFST stub columns having D=t
ratio ranged from 10.1 to 220.9 from the previous experimental
works [3,50,72,80–84], 147 square CFST stub columns having B=t ratio
ranged from 20 to 250 from the previous experimental works
[13–15,45,72,85,86], 182 hexagonal CFST stub columns having D=t ratio
ranged from 18.75 to 106.7 from the previous experimental and numer-
ical works [38,40,45] and 89 octagonal CFST stub columns having D=t
ratio ranged from 37.25 to 200 from the previous experimental and nu-
merical works [36,37,39] were collected. It should be noted that the
conducted experiments on hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns
cover a limited number of specimens with a narrow range of D/t ratios
compared to the circular and square CFST columns. The material prop-
erties of specimens are not omitted here for the sake of brevity, when
more information regarding details of CFST columns can be found in
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Table 4
Strength prediction equations for CFST stub columns.

Design method sectional shape Parameters Equations

 
Eurocode 4 [29] Circular Ultimate strength N EC4
0
¼ ηs As f y þ Ac f c 1 þ ηc Dt
fy
0
u fc
 
Confinement effects coefficient ηs ¼ 0:25 3 þ 2λ ≤1:0
2
ηc ¼ 4:9−18:5λ þ 17λ ≥0
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Relative slenderness NEC4
λ¼ pl
NEC4
cr

Squash strength NEC4

pl = Asfy + Acfc′
Buckling strength π 2 ðEI ÞEC4
N EC4
cr ¼ L2
eff

Effective flexural stiffness (EI)EC4

eff = EsIs + 0.6EEC4 c Ic
Secant modulus of concrete 0
0:3
ð f c þ8Þ
EEC4
c ¼ 22 10

Square Ultimate strength NEC4

u = Asfy + Acfc′
8 2  3
ANSI/AISC360-16 [30] Circular and square Ultimate strength >
>
>
No
< N o 40:658 NAISC cr 5 if N AISC ≥0:44N o
AISC cr
Nu ¼
>
>
>
: AISC AISC
0:877N cr if N cr <0:44N o
8 0
Section strength >
> N p ¼ As f y þ C 2 Ac f c for compact section
>
>
< Np −Nr  2

No ¼ Np −  2 λ−λp for non−compact section
>
> λ −λ
>
>
r p
: 0
As f cr þ 0:7Ac f c for slender section

0:95 for circular section
C2 ¼
0:85 for square section
8
>
> 9Es
>
> for square section
>
< ðb=t Þ
2

f cr ¼ 0:72 f y
>
>
>
>  0:2 for circular section
>
: D f y=Es t
Buckling strength π 2 ðEI ÞAISC
N AISC
cr ¼ L2
eff

AISC
Effective flexural stiffness (EI)eff = EsIs + C3EcAISCIc
 
C 3 ¼ 0:6 þ 2 AsAþAs
c
≤0:9
  
Yu et al. [61] Polygonal Ultimate strength N Yu ¼ 1 þ 0:5k ζ
As f y þ f ck Ac
u n 1þζ

Confinement factor ζ¼
As f y
f ck Ac
Characteristic concrete strength fck = 0.67fcu
polygon confinement effectiveness coefficient −4
2
kn ¼ nn2 þ20

Note : As = area of steel tube, Ac = area of concrete core, fy = yield strength of steel tube, fc′ = compressive strength of concrete,L = length of column, Is = second moment of areas of steel
tubular sections, Ic = second moment of areas of concrete sections, λ = slenderness of steel sections, λp = compact limit of the slenderness of steel sections, λr=slender limit of the slen-
derness of steel sections, n = number of sides.

the references mentioned above. Table 4 presents the design strength

models recommended by (EC4) [46] and ANSI/AISC360-16 [47] for
both circular and square CFST columns and a unified design equation
of Yu et al. [43] for polygonal CFST short columns.
Fig. 23 shows the Nu, exp=Nu,pre ratio as the function of D=t or B=t ratios, in
which Nu,exp is the ultimate axial strength obtained from the experimen-
tal or FE results and Nu,pre is the ultimate axial strength predicted by de-
sign models, listed in Table 4. Tables 5 and 6 summarizes the mean
values (X) and coefficient of variation (CoV) of Nu, exp=Nu,pre ratios for circu-
lar and square CFST columns and hexagonal and octagonal CFST col-
umns, respectively. In Table 6, (EC4)s and (EC4)c represent the results
of the EC4 design models for square and circular columns, respectively,
to predict the ultimate strengths of polygonal CFST columns. It was
shown in Figs. 23(a) and (b) that both EC4 and AISC 360–16 led to con-
servative predictions for circular and square CFST stub columns. As ob-
served in Table 5, both design codes were more conservative in
predicting the ultimate axial strength of circular CFST columns than
the square ones. Besides, the mean values of Nu, exp=Nu,pre indicate that
AISC 360–16 is more conservative than EC4. In addition, with the in-
crease of slenderness ratios, EC4 turned less conservative, which may
be due to the fact that the effect of local buckling in slender sections
was ignored by EC4. In contrast, in some cases, the predicted ultimate
axial strengths of square specimens with slender steel tubes by using
AISC 360–16 were even more conservative than the ones with heavy
steel tubes. This may be due to the method applied by AISC 360–16
was developed upon CFST columns with slender steel tubes. As pre-
sented in Table 4, ANSI/AISC 360–16 supposes that when the compres-
sive strengths of CFST columns with slender sections, the axial
compressive stress of steel tube reaches the elastic local buckling
strength fcr. As a result, the infilled concrete can only approach only
70% of its compressive strength.
As presented in Table 4, EC4 does not consider the confinement ef-
fect on the ultimate axial strength of square CFST columns. To assess
the intensity of confinement effect on improving the compressive
strength of hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns, their ultimate
axial strengths were evaluated by using both circular and square design
models, recommended by EC4. As shown in Fig. 23(c) and (d), and
Table 6, using the square design model of EC4 leads to the conservative
predictions of the ultimate axial strengths of hexagonal and octagonal
CFST columns. By contrast, their ultimate axial strengths predicted by
using the design model of circular CFST columns recommended by
EC4 were almost in good agreement with experimental and FE results.
As shown in Tables 5 and 6, the mean values of hexagonal and octagonal
CFST columns when the confinement effect is considered are 0.96 and
0.99, respectively. In contrast, in the case when the confinement effect
is ignored, the mean values of hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns
increases to almost 1.09. This again proves the fact that confinement ef-
fects in hexagonal and octagonal CFST columns were stronger than the

23
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 176 (2021) 106424

Fig. 23. Comparison of design and compressive strengths of CFST stub columns.

7. Conclusions
Table 5
Comparison of design models for predicting the ultimate axial strength of circular and This paper presents the nonlinear FE analysis of CFST stub columns
square CFST stub columns.
with different cross-sectional shapes under axial compressive loads.
Sectional shape EC4 AISC 360–16 Several conclusions listed below can be drawn:
X CoV X CoV
1) Comprehensive FE simulations of CFST columns with different cross-
Circular 1.10 0.12 1.35 0.13 section shapes, including circular, square, hexagonal, and octagonal
Square 1.06 0.15 1.20 0.15 sections, was developed and validated by the experimental results
in previous research based on the results of full load-displacement
curves, ultimate axial strengths, and failure modes.
2) In general, the circular CFST column had better structural perfor-
Table 6 mance than polygonal CFST columns. Among various polygonal
Comparison of design models for predicting the ultimate axial strength of hexagonal and CFST columns, octagonal and hexagonal CFST columns show better
octagonal CFST stub columns. ductility than the square CFST columns. In addition, the confinement
Sectional shape EC4 AISC 360–16 Yu et al. effect provided by hexagonal and octagonal steel tubes was found
smaller than that by the circular steel tubes and however more sig-
(EC4)s (EC4)C
nificant than that by the square steel tubes.
CoV CoV CoV CoV
X X X X 3) For CFST columns made with flat steel plates, the contact pressures
Hexagonal 1.09 0.12 0.96 0.08 1.20 0.09 1.08 0.07 at corner points are more significant than the flat areas. However,
Octagonal 1.09 0.04 0.99 0.06 1.25 0.03 1.16 0.05 unenhanced regions of octagonal and hexagonal columns are
smaller than the square column, respectively.
4) In the post-peak region of the load-deformation curves, the
ununiformed longitudinal stress distribution over the cross-section
square one. Similar to the circular and square cross-sections, AISC of the polygonal CFST columns was more significant than the circular
360–16 still gives more conservative predictions than EC4. The design CFST columns. However, among the polygonal CFST columns, the
model of Yu et al. also gives conservative predictions, similar with EC4 longitudinal stress distributions of the concrete core of octagonal
but with better accuracy than AISC 360–16, as shown in Figs. 23 and hexagonal CFST columns were more uniform than the square
(a) and (b), and Table 5. CFST column.

24
P. Ayough, Z. Ibrahim, N.H.R. Sulong et al.
5) Parametric studies indicated that the ultimate axial strengths of col-
umns were enhanced with the increase of the steel yield strength
and the concrete compressive strength. Increasing the steel strength
induced a more significant effect on the increase of the ultimate
strengths of circular, octagonal, hexagonal, and square columns
compared with increasing the concrete compressive strength. In ad-
dition, the concrete strength has the highest impact on the square
column, and the sensitivity of circular, octagonal, and hexagonal col-
umns to the concrete strength is almost the same.
6) The design models of formulas presented in EC4 and AISC 360–16
generally underestimated the ultimate axial loads of circular and
square CFST columns. However, EC4 could predict the ultimate
strengths of hexagonal and octagonal columns with reasonable ac-
curacy, while the formulas of AISC 360–16 and Yu et al. gave rela-
tively conservative predictions.
Authorship statement
All persons who meet authorship criteria are listed as authors, and
all authors certify that they have participated sufficiently in the work
to take public responsibility for the content, including participation in
the concept, design, analysis, writing, or revision of the manuscript. Fur-
thermore, each author certifies that this material or similar material has
not been and will not be submitted to or published in any other publica-
tion before its appearance in Journal of Constructional Steel Research.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
Acknowledgment
This research was funded by the University of Malaya under the
SATU Joint Research Program (Project No: ST005-2019) and University
of Malaya Research Grant (Faculty Program – Project No. GPF004A-
2019). The authors would like to acknowledge the support.
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