Mechanical behavior of circular and square concrete filled steel tube stub columns under local compression

•Concrete-filled steel tube stub columns under local compression was investigated.•A 3D finite element model was established for simulation.•Precise and concise formulas were proposed.

This paper presents a combined experimental and numerical study on the behavior of both circular and square concrete-filled steel tube (CFT) stub columns under local compression. Twelve circular and eight square CFT stub columns were tested to study their bearing capacity and the key influential parameters. A 3D finite element model was established for simulation and parametric study to investigate the structural behavior of the stub columns. The numerical results agreed well with the experimental results. In addition, analytical formulas were proposed to calculate the load bearing capacity of CFT stub columns under local compression.