Numerical modelling of the axial compressive behaviour of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns

This paper investigates the axial compressive behaviour of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns using the ABAQUS/Standard solver, and a new confined concrete stress-stain model for the concrete-filled elliptical steel hollow section is proposed. The accuracy of the simulation and the concrete stress-strain model was verified experimentally. The stub columns tested consist of 150 x 75 elliptical hollow sections (EHSs) with three different wall thicknesses (4 mm, 5 mm and 6.3 mm) and concrete grades C30, C60 and C100. The compressive behaviour, which includes the ultimate load capacity, load versus end-shortening relationship and failure modes, were obtained from the numerical models and compared against the experimental results, and good agreements were obtained. This indicated that the proposed model could be used to predict the compressive characteristics of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.