Rectangular concrete-filled steel tubular beam-columns using high-strength steel: Experiments and design

•New test data for rectangular CFT beam-columns using high-strength steel is reported.•Behaviors of rectangular CFT beam-columns using high-strength steel are analyzed.•The current design codes are calibrated with the experimental results.•A new N-M interaction approach is proposed and verified by the experimental results.

Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFT) columns and high-strength steel have been increasingly used in construction. However, the application of high-strength steel in CFT columns has not been permitted in many design codes. This paper reports an experimental investigation on the behavior of rectangular CFT beam-columns using high-strength steel. The influences of the in-fill concrete, eccentricity ratio and the width-to-thickness ratio on the resistance of the test columns are discussed. The contact behavior is studied using the finite element analysis. Chinese code DB 29-57 adopts the assumption that the concrete bears the axial load only, and the steel tube withstands the bending moment and part of the axial load. A new N-M interaction approach is developed based on the foresaid assumption to account for the plastic behavior of high-strength steel. The approach is verified by the experimental results and the available current design codes to be reasonably conservative, and it can be employed to design rectangular CFT beam-columns using high-strength steel.