Numerical analysis and design of concrete-filled aluminum circular hollow section columns

This paper presents numerical investigation and design of concrete-filled aluminum circular hollow section (CHS) columns. A non-linear finite element model is developed and verified against experimental results. An extensive parametric study was carried out to study the effects of cross-section geometries and material properties on the concrete-filled aluminum CHS column strengths. A total of 192 numerical data is presented in this study. The aluminum CHS tubes of normal strength material (T5) and high strength material (T6) using three different nominal concrete cylinder strengths of 40, 70 and 100 MPa were investigated. The nominal outer diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratio of the sections ranged from 10 to 160. The test and numerical results of the concrete-filled aluminum CHS columns were compared with the design strengths to evaluate the reliability of the design rules in the American and Australian/New Zealand specifications for aluminum and concrete structures. Furthermore, the composite column design equations are proposed in this study. The proposed design equations consider the benefits of composite action between the aluminum CHS tube and the concrete infill. It is shown that the proposed design equations accurately predicted the strengths of the concrete-filled aluminum CHS columns. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.