Experimental behaviour of concrete-filled stiffened thin-walled steel tubular columns

An experimental study on the structural behaviour of concrete-filled stiffened thin-walled steel tubular columns is presented in this paper. The stiffening was achieved by welding longitudinal stiffeners on the inner surfaces of the steel tubes. Companion tests were also undertaken on 12 unstiffened concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns, with or without steel fibres in the infill concrete. The test results showed that the local buckling of the tubes was effectively delayed by the stiffeners. The plate buckling initially occurred when the maximum load had almost reached for stiffened specimens, thus they had higher serviceability benefits compared to those of unstiffened ones. Some of the existing design codes were used to predict the load-carrying capacities of the tested composite columns.