Finite element analysis of concrete-encased steel composite columns with off-center steel section

Concrete encased steel composite columns have been widely used in high-rise buildings and top-down constructions owning to excellent load-carrying capacity and fire resistance. However, double symmetric composite section is rarely achieved due to the off-center eccentricity of steel kingpost, which is a common problem in top-down constructions. EN1994-1-1 (EC4) simplified method does not provide any explicit provisions for this kind of irregular composite columns, and many designers address this issue by reducing it into a symmetrical cross-section for ease of simple calculation. This paper presents a general method based on nonlinear finite element modelling software ABAQUS to analyze the ultimate strength behavior of concrete-encased composite columns with asymmetrically placed steel section. The accuracy of the FE model is verified against existing test results.   Parametric study is performed to further investigate the influence of steel section eccentricity on ultimate strength of stub columns under different loading conditions. A simplified method based on modification of EC4 design approach is developed to construct the moment-axial force interaction diagram. Accuracy of the proposed method is assessed by comparing the analytically predicted results with the numerical results. It is found that the proposed method can be adopted as a useful tool to predict the cross-section resistance of non-symmetrical concrete-encased steel composite columns.