Investigations on global buckling behaviour of concrete-filled double-skinned steel tubular columns

Concrete-Filled Double-skinned Steel Tubular columns (CFDST) are proved to possess exceptional structural resistance in case of fire and multi-hazard situations. This superior quality of CFDST makes it preferable in long column applications. However, studies on the long column behaviour of CFDST is very few, and their results are not in line with the behaviour of CFST long columns. Whereas, several researches on stub column CFDST shows that, the axial compression behaviour of CFDST is similar to CFST. In this paper, selected results (4 numbers of circular CFDST specimens) from a large test data is presented. Axial compression behaviour of long column CFDST specimens is studied, with non-dimensional slenderness λ around 1.0, and hollowness ratio as the governing parameter for study. Test results namely, axial load carrying capacity, axial deformation and lateral deflection are presented in this paper. Numerical models are also developed and validated with the experimental results, to carry out more parametric studies. Further, the experimental axial capacity values are compared with modified capacity equations from EC4 and AISC. Results show that extended EC4 and AISC equations gives conservative predictions for CFDST column even in the long column range. Moreover, the initial imperfections in the specimen and their corresponding boundary conditions for load application, are found to be governing parameters in long column buckling study.