11 International Conference on Steel, Space and Composite Structures 12-14 December 2012, Qingdao, China

th

BEHAVIOUR OF CONCRETE-FILLED STAINLESS STEEL TUBULAR COLUMNS AT AMBIENT AND ELEVATED TEMPERATURES
Zhong Tao*, Lin-Hai Han and Brian Uy
*

Institute for Infrastructure Engineering, University of Western Sydney Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, Australia NSW 2751 e-mail: <z.tao@uws.edu.au> webpage: http://www.uws.edu.au/iie

Keywords: Concrete-filled steel tubes, stainless steel, confinement, fire performance, bond.

Abstract. Despite its many desirable characteristics, the initial high cost of stainless steel greatly limited its structural use in the past. To make more economical use of stainless steel, it is advisable to fill stainless steel hollow sections with concrete to develop an innovative composite construction technology. The so-called concrete-filled stainless steel tubular (CFSST) columns can combine the advantages of both stainless steel and concrete, and the amount of stainless steel used can be greatly reduced by concrete filling. This paper summarises the research carried out in the last few years by the authors and their colleagues on CFSST columns. Particular emphasis in this paper is placed on the behaviour of CFSST columns at ambient and elevated temperatures. Meanwhile, the bond behaviour between the stainless steel tube and concrete under both ambient and fire conditions is briefly presented. Finally, the implications of these findings for future research are highlighted.
1 INTRODUCTION

In recent times, there has been an accelerating interest in the use of stainless steel in construction throughout the world [1]. This is attributed to the fact that stainless steel is extremely durable, has greater corrosion resistance and improved fire resistance, and is easily maintained. Following its invention in 1912, the first major architectural application of stainless steel was the cladding on the top of the Chrysler building in New York, completed in 1930 [1]. Despite the aggressive atmosphere and proximity to the ocean, the stainless steel facade has shown no deterioration with time and remains bright and clean. This project exemplifies the aesthetics and longevity of this material. Several other previous projects to have utilised stainless steel include the 300 m tall St Louis, Missouri, USA (1966), the 81 m tall Parliament House Flag Pole completed in Canberra, Australia in 1988, the Dublin Spire, Ireland, consisting of a steel tube of 120 m in length, the Millennium footbridge in York completed in 2001, and the ten storey building of Prada Tower in San Francisco completed in 2003 [1,2]. More recently, stainless steel was structurally utilised in Marina Bay Pedestrian Bridge in Singapore completed in 2009 and Hyllie railway station in Malmo, Sweden, which was completed in 2010. Based on the success of previous engineering experience, it is evident that stainless steel has a very important role to play in the future design of structures, particularly when architects and structural engineers become more cognisant of the need for life cycle costing. A recent study by Gardner et al. [3] considered the relative life cycle costs of stainless steel and carbon steel structures employed in building, bridge and offshore applications. It was found that on a whole-life basis stainless steel can
______________________________ Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China Institute for Infrastructure Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Zhong Tao, Lin-Hai Han and Brian Uy

offer more competitive solutions than carbon steel for bridges, exposed areas of building structures and offshore structures. Despite this, the structural use of stainless steel is still in its infancy when compared with carbon steel. In spite of the benefits which stainless steel offers, its application in structures has been greatly inhibited by its high initial cost. With a cost of about 2-4 times that of mild carbon steel, it is evident that more efforts should be made to make the optimum use of its properties. Compared with pure stainless steel columns, a promising method to better utilise and compensate for the high cost of adopting stainless steel is to use hollow sections filled with concrete. It is a natural progression since concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns using carbon steel material have been studied and applied in engineering practice for over one century. It has been shown that the composite columns combine the advantages of both steel and concrete, and thus provide not only an increase in the load-carrying capacity but also rapid construction, and additional cost saving. Hence, it is expected that a CFST column fabricated with stainless steel will ideally combine the advantages of both stainless steel and conventional concrete-filled carbon steel tubes. In this case, the amount of stainless steel used can be greatly reduced by concrete filling. Interestingly, filling concrete in stainless steel hollow sections has been indeed seen in several recent projects, including the Hearst Tower and the Stonecutters Bridge. The Hearst Tower at 959 Eight Avenue, New York City is a 46 storey building completed in 2006. The major lateral load resisting system for this building includes CFST columns in megacolumns of the diagrid exoskeleton. These columns incorporate a stainless steel skin. Another structural use of stainless steel is in the Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong completed in 2009. The bridge consists of two 290 m tall masts with their upper third (approximately 100 m) comprising of a stainless steel section filled with concrete. The major reason for the concrete infill is to ensure that minimal maintenance has to be conducted on this section as it would be difficult to access during the design life. Another recent application of stainless steel CFST columns was seen in more than twenty bus stop sheds built in Shenyang, China (Figure 1). The utilisation of stainless steel was expected to significantly reduce the maintenance of the bus stops. In recent years, extensive research has been conducted on short concrete-filled stainless steel tubular (CFSST) columns [4-6]. These studies have validated the merits of the innovative composite technique. But in practice, columns are usually subjected to the combined influence of slenderness, bending and even elevated temperatures. Meanwhile, suitable joints for connecting beams to columns should also be developed. Against this research background, the authors are now conducting two research projects to investigate the behaviour of CFSST columns and joints at ambient and elevated temperatures. The preliminary research results are introduced in this paper, and the implications of these findings for future research are discussed. 2 PROPERTIES OF STAINLESS STEELS

2.1 Stainless steel grades Stainless steels are alloys of iron containing at least 10.5% chromium and usually at least 50% iron [7]. Currently, there are various grades of stainless steels for engineers to choose. This variation is generated through the variation in chemical composition and heat treatment of stainless steels. Three categories of stainless steels are recommended in Eurocode 3 [8] for structural applications, including ferritic steels, austenitic steels and duplex (austenitic-ferritic) steels. Each type of stainless steel includes several grades. Therefore, a total of 21 grades are recommended in [8], including 3 ferritic steels, 16 austenitic steels and 2 duplex steels. Ferritic stainless steels usually contain between 10.5 % and 27 % chromium, and very little nickel, if any. As a result of high nickel prices, the cost of ferritic stainless steels is lower and more stable than that of the austenitic and duplex stainless steels [9]. With the lower nickel content, ferritic stainless steels have reduced corrosion resistance, but they generally have better engineering properties than austenitic grades. Meanwhile, ferritic stainless steels are less weldable than other stainless steels because of embrittlement of the heat-affected zones. Austenitic stainless steels make up over 70% of total stainless steel production and are the most commonly used stainless steels. They contain a maximum of 0.15% carbon, a minimum of 16% chromium and sufficient nickel and/or manganese to retain an austenitic structure at all temperatures. The most widely used austenitic steels are 1.4301 (widely known as 304) and 1.4401 (widely known as 316). Austenitic stainless steels provide a good combination of corrosion resistance, forming and fabrication properties [10]. They are also readily weldable. Duplex stainless steels have a mixed microstructure of austenite and ferrite. They are characterised by high chromium (1932%) and molybdenum (up to 5%) and lower nickel contents