Column buckling tests of hot-rolled concrete filled square hollow sections of mild to high strength steel

This paper examines the behaviour of 29 square concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) under concentric axial compression. The cross-section of the hot-rolled steel tubes ranges from 60 × 60 × 3.0 mm to 150 × 150 × 4.5 mm, and are grouped in three series (Series 1, 2 and 3). For the sections tested, the slenderness ratio (L/b) for Series 1, 2 and 3 ranges from 6.67 to 24.61, 27.00-45.00 and 18.00-27.0, respectively; and the depth-to-wall thickness (b/t) ranges from 33.87 to 42.86, 13.33-33.33 and 22.22-50.00, respectively. The slenderness ratio provides a range of columns, from relatively short to slender composite columns. Particular attention is paid to the existence of circumferential strain in the square composite columns. The compressive resistance of the composite columns are compared with the design strengths predicted by the South African standard (SANS 10162-1), as well as the European design standard (EN 1994-1-1). SANS10162-1 is based on the Canadian steel code (CAN/CSA-S160-01). A two-stage equation is proposed to model the results of short columns (Eq. (4)) and intermediate to slender columns (Eq. (5)).