Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Relative study on concrete filled square and circular steel tubular

columns – Using ANSYS for mathematical analysis
S. Vinoth a,⇑, S. Nandhini b, K. Pavithra a
a
Civil Department, Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Coimbatore 641062, India
b
Civil Department, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641014, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study evaluates the Concrete filled steel tubular sections (CFST) which is chosen based-on the fea-
Available online xxxx tures of its high capacity, economic, fire resistant and the better seismic act than steel structures. It uti-
lizes the gain of both concrete and steel; it is preferred for its large energy inclusion capacity and
Keywords: degradation due to lower strength. CFST uses Steel tubes structures have sections thinner which are com-
CFST columns pared with normal columns made of steel. But members get deteriorated owing to environmental factors
Recycled aggregate like ageing and corrosion. Under thought of these feasibilities a relative study has been made between
High performance concrete
square and circular section for different concrete mixes Nominal concrete (NC), Recycled aggregate con-
Energy absorption
Ductility factor and ANSYS model
crete (RAC), high performance concrete (HPC)). The effectiveness and act regarding Stress strain, load
deflection behavior, collapse pattern are studied in investigational models and resemblance with math-
ematical model which is done in ANSYS workbench module. In order to avoid degradation due to envi-
ronmental effects Anti-corrosion agent is used while fabrication.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Technology Innovation
in Mechanical Engineering-2021.

1. Introduction thin steel-tubes is avoided. More moment can bear by the columns
even after buckling, the columns with low D/t ratio.
CFST column is a compound structure which comprises of rein-
forced or plain material of concrete loaded in a hollow steel section
of square or circular specimen. In construction field function of 2. Experimental analysis
CFST applied in high-rise structure, bridges, communication tow-
ers and poles as columns. In office buildings the quantity of func- 2.1. Materials used for CFST
tional floor space is increased by provision of smaller size columns.
CFST columns are chosen over steel and concrete columns for its Cement grade of OPC 53 and nanosilica have been applied as a
capacity to carry high axial load, improved ductile performance, binder material and filler, the nanosilica is used as strengthening
high capacity of energy absorption and inferior strength degrada- filler in concrete. Table 1 presents nanosilica’s chemical composi-
tion. Presently these composite designs, chiefly applied in the tion, the two main function nanosilica is to form a more CSH gel
countries of South-East and Eastern Asia, which are situated in by the reaction of calcium hydroxide and silica and it size range
range of high seismic activity CFST have a number of fundamental is 100 times lower than the particle-size of cement it completely
advantages. The main advantages are, it is high operational consis- fills the concrete pores and it results in high density concrete.
tency and the speed of frame erection is high. Concrete core in CFST The 3% of nanomaterial added along with the 20% of fly-ash is
columns provides better confinement leading to enhanced perfor- added for the concrete high performance and it enhances the
mance and the problem of inherent buckling associated to walls of flow-ability and demand for water is reduced. The fundamental
nature of good fly-ash is to have high fineness, excellent reactivity,
low carbon-content and the amorphous characteristics between
cement and fly-ash greatly contribute to the pozzolanic reaction,
⇑ Corresponding author. the particles size vary from 1 to 100 mm. M sand is act as a fine
E-mail address: er.vinothsivakumar@gmail.com (S. Vinoth). aggregate for the fabrication of CFST column, The M sand has

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.05.007
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Technology Innovation in Mechanical Engineering-2021.

Please cite this article as: S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra, Relative study on concrete filled square and circular steel tubular columns – Using ANSYS
for mathematical analysis, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.05.007
S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Nanosilica’s chemical composition.

Chemical composition
Element Content (%)
Silicon 46.83
Oxygen 53.33

the benefit of high strength and the cause of ecological harm is low
than the river sand. The workability, shrinkage of concrete,
strength and weight are determined with the shape and grading
dimension of coarse aggregate. Hence the rough angular aggregate
with size range larger than 4.75 mm is taken and it act as the struc-
tural binder which is embedded in concrete mix. Incorporation of
RAC has been observed in reduction of concrete compressive Fig. 1. The graph for sive analysis for FA, CA and RAC.
strength. The normal coarse aggregate replaced with RAC in con-
crete, by using crushing method the RAC is prepared and partial
replaced to coarse aggregate in concrete. The mechanical proper- replacement of CA by recycled aggregate and HPC. Table 3 repre-
ties have been tested. The usual w/c ratio is reduced with the add- sents slump values for conventional, replaced recycled aggregate
ing up of super plasticizer that one may increase flow-ability. The and high performance concrete. The w/c ratio 0.4, 0.5, 0.55 are
super plasticizer SP430 used as admixture to reduce w/c ratio, the taken for different proportion, Fig. 2 shows the types of slump from
concrete strength drastically increases and it enables the fabrica- that 0.4 w/c ratio results in true slump for all three proportion
tion of self-consolidating concrete and elevated performance of whereas 0.5, 0.55 w/c ratio results in shear slump in all the three
concrete. Steel is chosen as material for CFST because of high dur- mix proportion
able nature of material and highly flexible as it is easily turned into
any desired shape and size which requires least maintenance with 2.3.2. Mix design
longer lifespan. The design mix is carried out for M30 mix grade of concrete, the
OPC 53 grade cement chosen having maximum and minimum
2.2. Tests on materials cement content of 450 and 320 kg/m3. The crushed angular type
of aggregate with nominal size ranges between 10 and 20 mm hav-
The basic tests such as specific gravity, Fineness modulus test ing specific gravity (Sg) of 2.74 and the FA tested to have the Sg of
are taken for fine aggregate (FA), coarse aggregate (CA) and 2.56. The chemical admixture (Sp430) Super plasticizer is incorpo-
crushed recycled aggregate (RA) are calculated. The average speci- rated to expand the flow and workability of the concrete at the
fic gravity (Sg) test values are calculated. Table 2 reports the speci- same time reduces the w/c ratio. Table 4 reports the mix percent-
fic gravity (Sg) for fine, coarse and crushed recycled aggregate. age for the M30 grade of concrete, the mix ratio for nominal con-
The fineness modulus analysis are carried-out on specified crete (NC) is 1: 2.4: 3.27, for replaced RAC 1: 2.4: 3.08 and for
sieves which are prearranged in downward order on the mechan- the HPC 1: 2.40: 3.27. The super plasticizer (SP430) has taken as
ical sieve shaker to find out the quantity of sample retained on 0.002 lit/m3 which is added to concrete mixture for each
each segment are noted. The cumulative fraction of sample on proportion.
every sieve segment retained is weighed and the corresponding
graph is plotted.
2.3.3. Compressive strength test
Fig. 1 shows the division of weight retained on every sieve for
The prepared specimens are kept for curing over 28 days time
FA, CA and RA relating to the sieve size used. For FA the size of sieve
period. After that they are exposed to loading in the compression
ranges from 4.75, 2.36, 1.18, 0.6, 0.425, 0.3, 0.15 and 0.075 mm. For
testing machine, the specimen is gradually subject to loading.
CA and RA, sieves such as 25, 20, 16, 12.5 and 10 mm are taken for
The time of first crack and failure due to corresponding load for
computation. The quantity of samples on each sieve segment
the average of six cubes for each proportion is calculated. Table 5
retained is weighed and the graph is plotted by taking sieve size
reports grade-M30 at 28 days average cube-compressive strength.
as x-axis and the samples fraction on every sieve retain are taken
as y-axis
3. Experimental programme
2.3. Tests on concrete
3.1. Specimen fabrication
2.3.1. Slump cone test (SCT)
The SCT performed to measure the elasticity of fresh concrete The required height (300 mm) of circular and sqaure steel tube
and the workability is checked, the test is conducted for the three of thickness 4 mm is cut for the required dimensions. To get flat
various proportion of concrete such as conventional concrete, surface, both ends of steel-tube have been surfaced by the surface
grinding machine. A steel plate with thickness 3 mm has been
positioned at the base each of steel tube to avoid seepage of slurry
Table 2
during placing. Inner portion of hollow steel have been carefully
Specific gravity values for the aggregates.
wire brushed to eradicate rust and free debris presented. Three
Materials Specific gravity specimens have been casted for circle shape and three for square
Fine aggregate 2.565 in the following dimension
Coarse aggregate 2.77 Circular specimen Concrete core diameter 113 mm
Recycled coarse aggregate 2.585
Square specimen Concrete core size 100 mm  100 mm
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S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 3
Slump values for the concrete mix.

W/C RATIO NC RAC HPC SLUMP

0.4 28 29 29 TRUE
0.5 21.5 23.5 22.5 SHEAR
0.55 15.5 19 17 SHEAR

Fig. 2. Fabricated specimen (square and circular). Fig. 3. Testing on specimen (square and circular).

Table 4 ports taking care to guarantee that its centre line has been exactly
Mix proportion for M30 mix grade of NC, RAC and HPC. coinciding with axis line of machine. The perpendicularity of spec-
Test data NC RAC HPC imens has been checked using sprit level tube and plumb bob.
Targeted mean strength (N/ 38.25 (N/ 38.25 (N/ 38.25 (N/
Fig. 4 represents the deflection of each specimen in accordance
mm2) mm2) mm2) mm2) with the load is noted by using a deflecto-meter.
Actual cement content (kg/ 350 (kg/m3) 350 (kg/m3) 350 (kg/m3)
m3)
Minimum cement content 320 (kg/m3) 320 (kg/m3) 320 (kg/m3)
4. Mathematical analysis of CFST using ansys
(kg/m3)
water content (kg/m3) 186 (lit/m3) 197.16(lit/ 197(lit/m3)
m3) 4.1. Nominal concrete (NC)
w/c ratio 0.4 0.4 0.4
Fine aggregate (kg/m3) 841.12(kg/ 841.12(kg/ 841.12(kg/ Fig. 5 reports the Stress distribution which is examined in the
m3) m3) m3)
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) 1146.19 (kg/ 1079.26 (kg/ 1146.19 (kg/
specimen is more stressed at mid portion than the loading area .
m3) m3) m3) Strain in the nominal circular specimen is more at middle region.
Super plasticizer (lit/m3) 0.002 (lit/ 0.002 (lit/ 0.002 (lit/ Deformation is more at loading area then it gradually decreases
m3) m3) m3) and continuous to be similar till 1/3rd of the length from loading
Mix ratio 1: 2.4: 3.27 1: 2.4: 3.08 1: 2.4: 3.27
area. It is noticed that value is minimum near the last part of
section.
Fig. 6 represents the Square specimen which is stressed heavily
Table 5
throughout but it is analyzed to be value falling towards the bot-
Average compressive strength of concrete.
tom end. Edges near the loading area are look to be crushed. Mid-
Test specimen Compressive dle portion and edges are exposed to more strain comparatively.
strength
The observed deformation is occurred at sectional top (loading
Conventional concrete 28.6 MPa area) and it is also examined in the bottom region.
Replacement of coarse aggregate by recycled coarse 27.3 MPa
aggregate
High performance concrete 29.2 MPa
4.2. Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC)

It is investigated that Fig. 7 reports the diagram for RAC speci-

Simultaneously all the aggregates have been taken by weight
men, the middle portion and the bottom most sections of specimen
batching. After that all mixes have been mixed together for 5 to
are highly stressed. At 1/3rd distance and 2/3rd distance are also
10 min using hand mixing. Then steel hollow tube specimens have
stressed but the intensity is lower. Strain is observed to be linear
been packed with concrete, the steel rod is used for compaction to
and it is more at 2/3rd distance from loading area. The intensity
avoid air gaps formation that occurs within the specimen as shown
of deformation is related to nominal specimen but the portion of
in Fig. 3. After the fabrication of the specimens, all the specimens
deformation with high intensity is large.
will be cured for 28 days.
Fig. 8 represents the RAC square specimen; the mid region of
the specimen is exposed to more stress. Intensity of specimen is
3.2. Experimental setup related to the nominal specimen but the stressed area is larger
than nominal specimen. The specimen is strained uniformly till
The CFST column has been tested in compression loading the 2/3rd distance from the loading area. It is least at the bottom.
machine of capacity 2000kN. Each member has placed on the sup- Deformation is ore at the bottom most section and it has visible
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S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 4. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for NC circular specimen.

Fig. 5. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for NC Square specimen.

Fig. 6. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for RAC Circular specimen.

Fig. 7. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for RAC Square specimen.

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S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 8. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for HPC Circular specimen.

Fig. 9. Shows the stress, strain, deformation diagram for HPC square specimen.

deformation till 1/3rd distance of the section from the bottom of of deformation and deformed area is minimum when compared
this specimen. with nominal specimen and RAC specimen and it is investigated
at 1/3rd distance from loading area.
4.3. High performance concrete (HPC)

Fig. 9 reports diagram for the HPC specimen which is stressed 5. Result and discussion
heavily till 2/3rd of the depth from the bottom. Strain in specimen
is observed to be homogeneous throughout the specimen. It is This research work intended to examine several aspects associ-
establish that the value is slightly minimum near the 1/3rd of ated to the outcome grade of concrete on CFST member. The objec-
the length from the loading area. Deformation is more near the tives of the learning are as follows:
loading area but the intensity of deformation is examined to be
minimum when compared with nominal specimen and it gradually  To examine the failure pattern based on their shapes.
decreases towards the base of the specimen.  The behavior of the CFST columns study for different concrete
Fig. 10 represents the HPC specimen and its Stress distribution mixes which includes NC, RAC concrete and HPC.
is linear and high all over the specimen till 2/3rd of the distance  To prefer the economical section for better performance
from the base of the section. It is minimum at the loading area.
Strain is more at the face edges and at the base edges. Intensity

Fig. 10. Failure pattern of circular specimen. Fig. 11. Failure pattern of square specimen.

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S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

5.1. Failure pattern of CFST

The failure pattern buckling has been observed in the both

square and circular sampling and the Elephant foot type of buck-
ling is found.

5.1.1. Circular specimen

Fig. 11 shows the failure pattern of circular specimens with the
incorporation of NC, RAC and HPC. In RAC there is no perfect failure
pattern but the deformation has been occurred near the loading
area. In HPC the deformation has been occurred at 1/3rd of the
specimen and 3/4th of the specimen and near the base plate. The
failure pattern is seen at the bottom of the specimen. In NC the
deformation has been observed at the middle of the specimen
and near the loading area. The failure pattern is seen almost
throughout the specimen.

5.1.2. Square specimen

Fig. 12 represents the failure pattern of square specimen with
the inclusion of NC, RAC and HPC. In RAC the failure pattern of this
specimen is similar to that of circular specimen. The deformation is
seen near the loading area. In HPC the deformation is observed at
1/3rd of the specimen. The failure pattern is seen clearly, minor
cracks are seen during loading. In NC the deformation has been

Fig. 13. Individual concrete load Vs Deflection graph for specimen (square and
Fig. 12. Load Vs Deflection for square and circular specimen. circular).

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S. Vinoth, S. Nandhini and K. Pavithra Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 6
Shows EA and DF for circular specimen.

Circular specimen Ultimate load Initial deflection Final deflection Energy absorption Ductility factor
NC 1250 0.01 2.95 2.46 295
RAC 1200 0.04 3.3 2.27 131
HPC 1300 0.02 2.62 2.64 82.5

Table 7
Shows EA and DF for square specimen.

Square specimen Ultimate load Initial deflection Final deflection Energy absorption Ductility factor
NC 700 0.02 2.42 1.13 121
RAC 625 0.04 2.9 0.94 72.5
HPC 750 0.01 1.88 1.21 188

occurred at middle section of the specimen. The mild cracks are formance and durability. Hence it is concluded that the behavior
observed. There is no perfect shape deformation. of circular specimen with high performance concrete is more satis-
factory with high load carrying capacity and low deflection.
5.2. Load Vs deflection
CRediT authorship contribution statement
The comparison made between the square and circular speci-
men and also for HPC, RAC and NC fabrications, the specimen with S. Vinoth: Writing - original draft, Review & editing. S. Nand-
low deflection with greater load carrying ability is best among all. hini: Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Software
Fig. 13(a & b) represents load Vs deflection graph for square and analysis. K. Pavithra: Supervision.
circular specimen. Fig. 13(a–c) shows the graph for individual con-
crete comparison on square and circular specimen. Figure (a) NC, Declaration of Competing Interest
(b) RAC and (c) HPC.
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
5.3. Energy absorption (EA) and ductility factor (DF) cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
The effectiveness of the specimen is evaluated by determining
EA and DF, the load Vs Deflection graph values it is calculated Further reading
and presented in Table 6 for circular specimen. On comparing
these, HPC specimen is found to have higher EA value 2.64 along [1] , Alfahad B Vishnu Ramesh – (2017).
[2] Behaviour of CFTS subjected to axial compression, Pengfei li, Tao zhang,
with a DF value of 82.5 and is chosen as optimum one whereas
chengzhiwang -2018
RAC specimen is found to have lower EA value 2.27. Table 7 pre- [3] Behaviour of concrete filled rectangular steel tubes subjected to flexure
sents square specimen for NC, RAC and HPC, the HPC specimen is loading, P.K Gupta , SK Katariya-2007.
found to have higher EA value 1.21 along with a DF value of 188 [4] Behaviour of high strength circular concrete filled steel tubular columns under
eccentric loading, Seong-Hui Lee, Brian Uy, Sun-Hee Kim-2011.
and is chosen as the optimum one whereas RAC specimen is found [5] , Mr.K.Suresh Kumar, Sri.O. Suresh, Dr.E.V. RaghavaRao - (2018).
to have lower value of 0.94. On comparing Square and circular [6] Comparative Analysis Of CSST And Rcc Structures Subjected To Seismic
specimens, circular specimen is found to have higher EA and DF Loading, Manjari Blessing B V, Gayathri S – 2017.
[7] Composite response of high strength concrete confined by circular steel tube,
in case of HPC from the graphs above. PeterMcAteer, John F.Banocci, Mohamed Lachemi -2004.
[8] , Juan Zhang, Yong Li, Guofeng Du And Gangbing Song (-2018.).
[9] Efficient design of CFTS columns, A.LKrishan, EP Chernyshova-2016.
6. Conclusion
[10] Enhanced Ductility Of Concrete Filled Steel Tubes Under Combined
Compressive And Lateral Loads, Syed Shakeeb Ahmed, Dr. B K Raghu Prasad,
The following result has been concluded based on the experi- Dr.Amarnath -2010.
[11] Load Bearing Capability Of CFTS Columns With And Without Shear Connectors,
mental analysis;
G. Sunil Reddy , G.N Sreekanth , Dr.S.Balamurugan - 2017.
[12] , Z.H. Lu and Y.G. Zhao – (2008).
1. Based on Shape- On comparing the square and circular column [13] Parametric study of concrete filled steel tube column, DarshikaK.shash, M.D
specimens. Circular CFST columns have better performance due vakil, M.N Patel-2014.
[14] Recycled aggregate concrete filled steel columns subjected to cyclic loading,
to better confinement. You-Fu Yang, Lin-tao zhu-2009.
2. Based on Concrete- High performance CFST circular column is [15] , GlibVatulia, Alexey Lobiak, And Yevhen Orel – (2017).
selected as good performing and economical section as the load [16] Strengthening Of Concrete Filled Tubular steel Columns WithFrp Composites,
P.Kiruthika, S.Balasubramanian, M.C.Sundarraja, J.Jegan– 2017.
bearing capacity is high and deflection is minimum than other [17] , KrishanEvgeniya (-2014.).
specimens [18] Study of Material Property of Concrete Filled Tubular steel Columns,
LemyaMusthafa, Sunitha Rani C.M, Smitha.K.K– 2016.
[19] Study on concrete filled steel tube Shilpasarakurian, sreepriya mohan-2016
From the test results, the behavior of all the specimens is ana- [20] The efficiency of passive confinement in CFTS columns, Mathias Johanson-
lyzed and compared to determine the efficiency of each specimen. 2002.
The type of concrete used in the specimen does influence its per-