Axial compression stability of a crisscross section （轴压稳定性的交叉部分）.pdf

JOURNAL OF MECHANICS OF MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Vol. 4, No. 10, 2009 AXIAL COMPRESSION STABILITY OF A CRISSCROSS SECTION COLUMN COMPOSED OF CONCRETE-FILLED SQUARE STEEL TUBES CHEN ZHI -HUA , RONG BIN AND APOSTOLOS FAFITIS A crisscross section column composed of concrete-filled square steel tubes was tested in axial loading up to failure. The column was analyzed by the finite element method and the ultimate load as well as the failure mode were in agreement with the experimental findings. An analytical method was also proposed which when applied to the tested column gave an estimate of the ultimate load about 4% different from the experimental. The analytical method also predicted the mode of failure correctly. 1. Introduction Special-shaped columns have found applications in many structures, especially residential buildings. Compared with regular columns, special-shaped columns have the distinguishing characteristic of flexible sections such as L -shaped, T -shaped, and crisscross sections. The use of special-shaped columns in residential buildings can give more indoor space than regular rectangular or square columns. The behavior of special-shaped reinforced concrete columns has been the subject of investigation and many experimental and analytical studies have been published. Ramamurthy and Hafeez Khan [1983] have proposed a method to determine the theoretical ultimate loads of L -shaped concrete columns based on the concept of an equivalent square or rectangular column. Hsu [1985; 1989] has presented theo- retical and experimental results for L -shaped and T -shaped reinforced concrete sections. Mallikarjuna and Mahadevappa [1992; 1994] have carried out numerical investigations on the strength of L -shaped and T -shaped short reinforced concrete columns that have been subjected to com