Behavior of thin walled steel tube confined concrete stub columns subjected to axial local compression

The behavior of thin walled steel tube confined concrete (STCC) stub columns subjected to axial local compression was experimentally investigated in this paper. A total of 46 specimens, including 36 STCC specimens and 10 plain concrete specimens, were tested. The main parameters varied in the tests are: (1) sectional types: circular and square; (2) local compression area ratio (concrete cross-sectional area to local compression area): from 1 to 25; (3) steel tube width (or diameter)-to-wall thickness ratio, B(or D)/t, from 52.1 to 104.7. It was found that the ultimate bearing strength of the composite sections decreases with increase local compression area ratio. The confinement action of the steel tube to core concrete and the ultimate strength of the locally loaded STCC specimens decrease with increase in steel tube width (or diameter)-to-thickness ratio. It was also found that, generally, circular steel tubes have higher confinement to their concrete core than those of the tubes with square sections when the composite members are subjected to axially local compression.