Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319

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Thin-Walled Structures
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Full length article

Behaviour of grout-lled double skin steel tubes under compression and MARK
bending: Experiments

Wei Lia,b, , Di Wanga, Lin-Hai Hana
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Building Safety and Built Environment, Beijing, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The grout is often used to ll the gap between two tubes as binding material in some specic structures, which
Grout-lled double skin steel tube (GFDST) may actually form a grout-lled double skin steel tube. However, little literature has been found regarding the
Compression behaviour of the grout-lled double skin steel tubular (GFDST) member, while the inuence of the in-lled grout
Bending could be underestimated in the steel-grout composite structure. This paper thus presents an experimental
Beam-column
investigation of the compressive and exural behaviour of GFDST members. A total of 14 specimens are tested,
Ultimate strength
including 8 stub columns, 4 beam-columns and 2 beams. For the axially compressed stub columns, the main test
parameter is the hollow ratio of the cross section, and 2 corresponding hollow steel counterparts are designed to
study the eect of the grout lling. For the beam-columns, the inuences of load eccentricity are analyzed
through test results. The failure modes, the strain distribution and the ductility of the GFDST members are
studied in order to suciently evaluate the performance of the steel-grout composite member. The ultimate
strengths of the GFDST members are estimated by the equations of concrete-lled double skin steel tubular
members tentatively. It is found that all tested specimens failed in a ductile way, and the stiness, the ultimate
strength and the ductility of GFDST member is improved attributing to the in-lled grout. In addition, the
predicted stiness and strength results generally match well with the measured ones.

1. Introduction A similar type of structure, the concrete-lled double skin steel

In some oshore structures such as jacket platforms and wind
turbine poles, the main leg commonly consists of external tube and
internal tube, which serve as outer jacket and pile, respectively. Usually
the thickness of the annulus gap is very small, which can only allow
materials without any aggregate and with very good workability to be
lled in. The grout is often used to ll the annulus gap and serves as
binding materials. It actually form a kind of grout-lled double skin
steel tube (GFDST), which consists of two concentric-laid tubes, and the
grout is lled in the annulus cavity between two tubes, as shown in
Fig. 1. The strength and stiness contribution of the grout may often be
ignored or underestimated for conservative purpose since the thickness
of the grout is usually very thin in engineering practice [1,2]. However,
previous research has found that even very thin grout in-lled might
enhance the performance of dual steel tubular structures [3,4]. Better
indentation resistance and energy absorption capacities were also
conrmed due to the grout composite layer [5]. The safety potential
of the structure could therefore be considered for the life extension of
existing structures when the eect of grout is properly considered.
tubular (CFDST) structure has been used in engineering projects such as
transmission poles in land, while the concrete is the in-lled material
between two tubes instead of grout [6,7]. The CFDST structure has
attracted numerous attentions, and a lot of investigations have been
conducted on many aspects such as the short-term static behaviour
[810], long-term static behaviour [11], cyclic behaviour [12,13],
behaviour under re [14], behaviour under compact and behaviour
under various load combinations [15]. In previous research, a hollow
ratio is often dened to describe the geometric conguration of the
cross section, which usually ranges from 0.2 to 0.8 for CFDST members.
From previous research it was found that the CFDST structure behaved
similarly to that of solid concrete-lled steel tubular (CFST) structure.
The outer tube, sandwiched concrete and inner tube could work
together well under various loading conditions. Meanwhile, the outer
tube connes the sandwiched concrete, and the sandwiched concrete
improves the buckling modes of both tubes in contrast. Apart from the
experimental research conducted, the numerical investigations were
also carried out for CFDST structures. The nite element analysis model
was established to study the structural behaviour more thoroughly,

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: iliwei@tsinghua.edu.cn (W. Li).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2017.02.029
Received 13 November 2016; Received in revised form 16 January 2017; Accepted 27 February 2017
Available online 10 April 2017
0263-8231/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
W. Li et al. Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319

Nomenclature M Moment
Mu Ultimate exural strength
Ag Cross-sectional area of the sandwiched grout, given by Muc Calculated ultimate exural strength
((D2to)2d2)/4 for GFDST member with circular inner Mue Measured ultimate exural strength
and outer tubes N Load
Age Nominal inner cross-sectional area, given by (D2to)2/4 Nu Ultimate compressive strength
for circular cross section Nuc Calculated ultimate compressive strength
Asi Cross-sectional area of inner steel tube Nue Measured ultimate compressive strength
Aso Cross-sectional area of outer steel tube to Wall thickness of outer steel tube
D Diameter of outer circular steel tube ti Wall thickness of inner steel tube
d Diameter of inner circular steel tube n Nominal steel ratio of the cross section, n=Aso/Age
Eg Modulus of elasticity of grout Deformation, axial shortening of stub column or beam-
Es Modulus of elasticity of steel column, deection of beam
EAsg Compressive stiness of GFDST cross section f Deformation when load decreases to 85% of ultimate
EIsg Flexural stiness of GFDST cross section strength
e Load eccentricity y Deformation corresponding to yield strength
eL Load eccentricity ratio Mid-span lateral deformation of beam-column
fg Compressive strength of grout Strain
fsi Yield stress of inner steel tube Curvature
fso Yield stress of outer steel tube Ductility coecient
A f
Ig Second moment of area of grout o Nominal connement factor, o = Aso fso
ge g
Isi Second moment of area of inner tube
Hollow ratio of the cross section, =d/(D2to)
Iso Second moment of area of outer tube

where the concrete strength enhancement attributed to the connement
of tube and the steel-concrete interaction between two materials were
carefully taken into account. Simplied design methods for CFDST
structures were also developed according to parametric analysis by the
calibrated numerical model.
Although there are some similarities in geometries of CFDST and
GFDST cross sections, the in-lled materials are dierent between these
two structures. Moreover, the hollow ratio of GFDST commonly used in
engineering practice is usually larger than that of CFDST structure,
which often ranges from 0.8 to 0.92. Up to date the information of the
GFDST structure is rather limited, therefore more work should be
conducted in this aspect.
This paper investigates some basic behaviour of GFDST members,
i.e., the behaviour under axial concentric compression, eccentric
compression and pure bending. A series of experiments are carried
out for typical GFDST specimens, and the parameters include the type
of the cross section, cross-sectional hollow ratio, load eccentricity and
etc. The failure modes and the load versus deformation relations are
recorded in the test, and the strength, stiness and ductility of the
specimens are analyzed according to the experimental results. The
feasibility of current design equations for CFDST structures in the
design of GFDST structures is also discussed herein. The main objectives
of this study are as follows:
To provide new test data of GFDST stub columns, beam-columns and
beams;
To discuss the strength, stiness and ductility of GFDST members;
and
To evaluate the calculation methods of the GFDST members.
2. Experimental program
2.1. General description
A total of 14 specimens were designed for the GFDST members,
including 8 stub columns, 4 beam-columns and 2 beams. For stub
columns subjected to concentric loading, the main parameter was the
hollow ratio of the cross section , which can be dened as [9]:
d
=
D 2to (1)
where D and d are the outer diameters of outer and inner tubes,
respectively; to is the thickness of the outer tube. The hollow ratios used
for the specimens in the test ranged from 0.56 to 0.92, which is
commonly used in engineering practices for the thickness of the grout is
usually very thin. Besides, the eect of in-lled grout is taken into
consideration directly by setting the hollow double steel tubes without
lling grout as counterparts. Large specimens with 1/3 scale of the
member in real structures were also designed for comparison. Detailed
dimensions of the stub column specimens can be found in Table 1.
For the beam-column specimens, the test parameter was the load
eccentricity. The load eccentricity ratio eL is dened as follows:
2e
eL =
D (2)

where D is the diameter of outer tube, e is the distance from the loading
axis to the central axis of the specimen. Two load eccentricities, i.e.
20 mm and 70 mm, were applied to obtain the column capacity under
both axial compression and bending, and the corresponding load
eccentricity ratios are 0.29 and 1. The slenderness ratio of beam-
columns was 28, which was within the range (2856) of previous
research on CFDST beam-columns [9]. Other detailed information for
beam-column specimens can be found in Table 1.
Fig. 1. GFDST used in oshore jacket platform. For the beam specimens, only one group of specimen was designed

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Table 1
Summary of grout-lled double skin steel tubular specimens.

No. Label Cross-sectional Specimen typea Cross section of outer Cross section of inner Hollow ratio Length/mm Eccentricity e /mm Eccentricity ratio eL
type tube/mm tube/mm

1 GC1-1 Filled C 1402.5 1142 0.84 420 N/A N/A

2 GC1-2 Filled C 1402.5 1142 0.84 420 N/A N/A
3 GC2-1 Filled C 1402.5 761.6 0.56 420 N/A N/A
4 GC2-2 Filled C 1402.5 761.6 0.56 420 N/A N/A
5 HSC-1 Hollow C 1402.5 1142 N/A 420 N/A N/A
6 HSC-2 Hollow C 1402.5 1142 N/A 420 N/A N/A
7 GCL-1 Filled C 4508 4008 0.92 700 N/A N/A
8 GCL-2 Filled C 4508 4008 0.92 700 N/A N/A
9 GBC1-1 Filled BC 1402.5 1142 0.84 1000 20 0.29
10 GBC1-2 Filled BC 1402.5 1142 0.84 1000 20 0.29
11 GBC2-1 Filled BC 1402.5 1142 0.84 1000 70 1.0
12 GBC2-2 Filled BC 1402.5 1142 0.84 1000 70 1.0
13 GB-1 Filled B 1402.5 1142 0.84 1300 N/A N/A
14 GB-2 Filled B 1402.5 1142 0.84 1300 N/A N/A

a
C stands for stub column; BC stands for beam-column; B stands for beam.

to demonstrate the exural behaviour under pure bending, where the
cross-sectional property was the same as that of the beam-column. Each
specimen has a duplicated one in order to obtain a more reliable result.
The details of the specimens can also be found in Table 1.
2.2. Specimens preparation
All kinds of specimens were carefully prepared in the laboratory.
The commercial steel tube with straight weld was used for both inner
and outer tubes in order to control the quality of the specimen. The
tubes were machined at both ends and welded to the at plate at one
end. For the beam-column specimens, stieners were also welded at
both ends before the pouring of grout to avoid local buckling when the
eccentric load was applied. Then the grout was poured into the cavity
between two tubes. The grout was consisted of cement and water only,
without any ne aggregate adding in. Usually the ow ability of the
grout is very good and there is no need for any additional vibration.
After the curing, an obvious settlement of approximately 2 mm
occurred on top of the column mainly due to the evaporation of water
and the shrinkage of grout. It is noted that no separation was found
between the grout layer and the tubes after the hardening of grout. The
high strength lling material was used to fulll this gap. After the
hardening of the ller, the top plate was installed with both inner and
outer tubes welded on it.
2.3. Material properties
The coupons were distracted from the welded steel tube. Standard
tensile tests were conducted to obtain the yield stress, tensile strength,
modulus of elasticity and elongation after fracture. The details of test
results for steels are listed in Table 2.
The grout consists of water and cement only, without any aggregate
or additive. It is usually regarded as a binding material only in the past,
where the knowledge on the mechanical property of the hardened grout
is rather limited. The density of grout is often used to control the quality
of the mixture in practice. In the test, it was 1850 kg/m3 in wet, and
was approximately 1900 kg/m3 while it hardened. The corresponding
water to cement ratio of grout was 0.43 for all specimens. The
100100100 mm cubes were used to obtain the compressive
strength during the test. The typical stress-strain curve for hardened
grout is shown in Fig. 2, where a strain rate of 5 s1 was adopted to
obtain the complete stress-strain relation under compression including
the softening branch. The average compressive strength of the
100100100 mm hardened grout cubes during the test was
51.1 MPa for specimens with small diameter, and it was 54.8 MPa for
GCL-1 and GCL-2 specimens. The average modulus of elasticity for
grout obtained from the stress-strain curves was approximately
22,800 MPa. In general the hardened grout exhibits a concrete-like
behaviour, whilst it is more brittle under common loading strain rate
and the performance seems more scattered when compared to that of
the concrete.
2.4. Test setup and instrumentation
Fig. 3 depicts the test arrangement of the stub column specimen.
The small and large stub columns were loaded by hydraulic jacks with
loading capacity of 2000 kN and 20,000 kN, respectively. Four dis-
placement transducers were placed around the column to measure the
axial shortening of the specimen. A total of 12 strain gauges were used
to obtain the longitudinal and transverse strains at the middle section of
both inner and outer tubes. The vertical load was recorded by the load
sensor. The loading rate for stub column specimens except the GCL
series was approximately 2 kN/s before yielding of the specimen, and
was approximately 2 mm/min after then. For the GCL series, the

Table 2
Material properties of steel.

Steel type Yield Tensile Modulus of Elongation after

strength fy strength fu elasticity Es fracture (%)
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa)

1402.5 307 407 1.96105 39.4

1142 321 396 1.87105 27.5
761.6 429 526 2.04105 17.0
4508 365 492 2.04105 26.0
4008 363 473 2.01105 28.0
Fig. 2. Typical measured stress-strain relationship of hardening grout.

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140 140
N 114 76

210(350)
Specimen GC1 GC2
450
A A 400 140
210(350)

114

Unit: mm
Displacement Transverse Longitudinal
transducer HSC strain gauges strain gauges
GCL
Fig. 3. Test setup of GFDST stub column.

loading rate was 10 kN/s and 2 mm/min before and after yielding of
specimen, respectively. Load intervals of 100 kN and 500 kN were used
for small and large specimens before yielding, respectively. A displace-
ment interval of 1 mm was used after then for all specimens in order to
observe the phenomenon during the test.
Fig. 4 depicts the test arrangement of the beam-column specimen.
The eccentric load was applied on top of the column by a 5000 kN
compressive machine for the beam-column specimens. The hinges were
set at both ends to control the load eccentricity and to allow the free
rotation. The distance between two rotation centers was 1260 mm. Two
vertical displacement transducers were placed at both ends to measure
the axial shortening of the beam-column. On the other hand, three
horizontal displacement transducers were placed to measure the
exural deformation of the specimen. Strain gages were used to
measure the strains on dierent cross sections of inner and outer tubes.
The loading rate for beam-columns was approximately 0.5 kN/s and
2 mm/min before and after yielding of the specimen, respectively. A
load interval of 40 kN was used before yielding and a displacement
interval of 1 mm was used after then.
Fig. 5 shows the test arrangement of the beam specimen. The beam
specimen was placed on a hinged support on one side and a rolling
support on the other. The distance between two supports was 1080 mm.
Two-point bending load was applied to the specimen through a rigid
spread beam. The distance between the hinged end and the rolling end
of the spread beam was 500 mm. A total of 5 vertical displacement
transducers were placed on the pure bending segment to measure the
mid-span deformation. Two displacement transducers were placed at
the end supports to record the possible vertical settlement. Strain
gauges were placed on the middle section of both inner and outer tubes.
The loading rate and load interval were the same as those of the beam-
column specimens. All test data was recorded during the test including
the unloading stage.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Stub column
3.1.1. Failure modes
The whole test process was conducted smoothly under good control.
Fig. 6 shows typical failure modes of stub columns subjected to axial
compression. For the hollow double steel tubes, both outward and
inward buckling was observed on tubes, as shown in Fig. 6(a). For the
GFDST specimen, the buckling mode was changed attributed to the
lled grout. For the specimens with relatively large hollow ratio (GC1

Hinged end 140

N 114
250

B B Section A-A
250
1260

A A
250

Specimen
Section B-B/C-C
C Transverse
C
250

strain gauges
Longitudinal
e strain gauges
Hinged end
Displacement
transducer
Unit: mm
Fig. 4. Test setup of GFDST beam-column.

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W. Li et al.
Rigid spread beam
Hinged end
Hinged support
Base
290 75 90
290
Fig. 5. Test setup of GFDST beam.
and GCL series), the outward buckling occurred in both inner and outer
steel tubes, where the lled grout was crushed and cracked as well, as
shown in Fig. 6(b) and (c). For the specimens with relatively small
hollow ratio (GC2 series), the outward buckling was observed in the
outer steel tube, while the inward buckling was found in the inner steel
tube. Meanwhile, the crush of grout was found where the tubes
buckled, as shown in Fig. 6(d). The outer steel tube was removed after
the test. The grout worked well with the steel tubes in general, no gap
was found between the grout and tubes outside the failure region. It can
be seen that there were cracks found in the hardened grout around the
crushed region, and most of them were developed along the long-
itudinal direction due to the brittleness of grout, as shown in Fig. 6(b),
(c) and (d), while few longitudinal crack was found in concrete in
previous CFDST tests [9].
The schematic views for the failure mode for the hollow double steel
tubes, the GFDST stub column with large hollow ratio and GFDST stub
column with small hollow ratio are depicted in Fig. 7(ac), respectively.
It can be concluded that the lled grout changes the buckling mode of
the hollow steel tubes, and the buckling mode of inner tube is altered
according to the hollow ratio of the specimen. Only inward buckling
was observed for GFDST specimens with small hollow ratio, as the
thicker sandwiched grout could provide stronger support to the tubes.
3.1.2. Load versus displacement relations
Fig. 8 shows the load versus axial shortening (N) relations for all
stub column specimens. It can be seen that the P relations for all
GFDST specimens exhibit a ductile manner. The curve consists of a
linear elastic segment at the beginning of the loading, and followed by
an elastic-plastic segment. For GFDST stub columns, the elastic-plastic
segment usually starts from about 60% of the ultimate strength due to
the brittleness of grout, while for CFDST stub columns, it usually starts
from 80% of the ultimate strength [9]. A descending segment is formed
when the load starts to decrease after the ultimate strength is reached.
The measured stiness and ultimate strength of stub column specimens
Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319
N
Rolling end
A
A
Rolling support
Specimen
85 85 90 75 290 Unit: mm
500 290
140
114
Section A-A
Transverse
strain gauges
Longitudinal
strain gauges
Displacement
transducer
are listed in Table 3. It can also be found that both initial stiness and
ultimate strength are enhanced by the in-lled grout. The average
initial stiness and ultimate strength for GC1 series was enhanced by
25% and 34% when compared to the hollow HSC series, respectively.
For the grout-lled specimens, the hollow ratio has a signicant eect
on the stiness and strength as well. The average initial stiness and
ultimate strength for GC2 series (=0.56) increased by 25% and 28%
when compared to those of GC1 series (=0.84). As the hollow ratio
increases, the shape of descending branch of the P curve of GFDST
column becomes steeper, which is more similar to that of the hollow
steel columns. The column stiness at the unloading stage is close to
that of the initial stage, which indicates a recovery of the elastic
deformation.
3.1.3. Strain response
The strain was recorded by the strain gauges during the test. The
axial load-strain relations (N-) for stub columns are presented in Fig. 9,
where the positive and negative values represent the elongation and
shortening of strain gauge, respectively. It is noted that the strain
obtained by the strain gauge only represents the local result of the
measured point, and sometimes it will be diverse if the buckling occurs
at that region. It can be seen that the longitudinal strain was fully
developed for all specimens under axial compression. For the grout-
lled specimens, when the ultimate strength was reached, the trans-
verse strain at the outer steel tube recorded was larger than that of the
hollow counterpart. For example, the transverse strain for the outer
steel tube of HSC-1(hollow) and GC1-1(grout-lled) corresponding to
ultimate strength was 2776 and 6109, respectively. It is attributed
to the fact that the lled grout provides support to the outer tube and
delays the buckling of the steel tube. Meanwhile, the transverse strain
of GFDST outer tube develops more suciently with the decrease of
hollow ratio. The transverse strain corresponding to the maximum load
of GC2-1 was 9009, which was approximately 50% larger than that of
GC1-1.
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Fig. 6. Failure modes of GFDST stub columns.

Fig. 7. Schematic view of failure modes of GFDST stub columns.

3.1.4. Ductility
A ductility coecient is introduced herein to describe the ductility
under axial compression, which can be calculated as [12]:
f occurred on the grout at the tensile side. The maximum distance
= between two parallel transverse cracks was approximately 25 mm, and
y (3)
where, y is the axial shortening corresponding to the yield strength, f
is the axial shortening when the load decreases to 85% of the ultimate
strength. The denition of yield strength can be found in Ref. [12].
The ductility coecients for GFDST stub columns calculated are
listed in Table 3. It can be found that the ductility coecient for the
GFDST specimen was increased when compared to that of the hollow
steel counterpart. The average of GFDST stub column specimens was
10.7, while it was 8.0 for the hollow steel tubes. The ductility
coecient also increases signicantly with the decrease of hollow
ratio. When comparing the GC1 and GC2 series, increases 80% when
the hollow ratio changes from 0.84 to 0.56, while the hollow ratio
does not have signicant inuence on the ductility of CFDST specimens
[9].
3.2. Beam-column
3.2.1. Failure modes
The failure modes for the beam-column with dierent eccentricity
ratio were almost the same. Fig. 10 depicts the typical failure mode of
GFDST beam-column. The overall bending was observed and the
exural deformation follows the parabolic curve. Local outward buck-
ling was found in the outer tube at the compressive side around the
middle section. After the removal of outer steel tube, the crush of the
grout was found where the outer tube buckled. The incidental crack of
the grout was also found along the longitudinal direction near the
crushed region. Nevertheless, both transverse and longitudinal cracks
the maximum crack width was approximately 0.8 mm. When compared
to the CFDST beam-column, the GFDST beam-column has more cracks
on the tensile side and the crack width was larger. The inward buckling
was found on the inner tube of beam-column specimens, for the lled
grout prevents the outward buckling of the tube.
3.2.2. Load versus deformation relations
Both lateral and axial displacements were recorded in the test.
Fig. 11(a) and (b) show the axial load versus lateral displacement (N)
relation and axial load versus axial displacement (N) relation for
GFDST beam-column, respectively. It can be seen that the curves
undergo a linear elastic stage, an elastic-plastic stage and a descending
stage. The elastic-plastic segment of GFDST stub columns occurs earlier
than that of CFDST ones as the stiness of the grout is smaller. The load
eccentricity has a signicant eect on the stiness and strength of the
specimen, where the stiness and strength decreases when the load
eccentricity increases. On the other hand, the same lateral displacement
was reached for both GBC1 and GB2 series in the nal, while the axial
shortening of GBC1 was less than that of GBC2. It is due to the fact that
more rotation occurred at the ends of GBC2 specimens as the load
eccentricity was large. Meanwhile, it can also be seen that the elastic
deformation of the specimen was mostly recovered after the test.

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Fig. 8. Axial load-axial shortening relations of GFDST stub columns (a) GC and HSC series (b) Initial stiness (c) GCL series.

3.2.3. Strain response
Fig. 12 shows the typical axial load versus strain (N-) relations for
GFDST beam-columns, where the labels of strain gauges are denoted.
The positive and negative indicate the elongation and shortening of
strain gauge, respectively. The results from both sides are presented,
i.e., the sides far from and close to the loading axis.
For the specimen with small load eccentricity (GBC1-1), the long-
itudinal strain far from the loading axis was subjected to shortening at
the beginning of the loading, as the whole cross section was subjected
to compression. However, it changed to elongation (tension) as the
loading continued, for the bending deformation was developed on the
specimen. For the side close to the loading axis, the strain gauges show
that both inner and outer tubes were subjected to longitudinal
compression, and the tensile strain was developed at the hoop direc-
tion. The maximum longitudinal strain developed on the side close to
the loading axis for GBC1-1 was over 20,000 , which indicates a good
deformation capacity of the specimen.
For the specimen with large load eccentricity (GBC2-1), the side far
from the loading axis was subjected to longitudinal tension at the
beginning of the loading, while the transverse compressive strain was
developed accordingly, for the bending deformation occurred for the
specimen when the loading began. For the side close to the loading axis,
the strain gauges on both inner and outer tubes were subjected to
longitudinal compression, while the tensile strain occurred at the hoop
direction. The longitudinal compressive strain on the side close to
loading axis of GBC2-1 is smaller than that of GBC1-1, as the bending
occurred earlier on GBC2-1 and the compressive strain could not be
suciently developed.

Table 3
Test results of GFDST stub columns.

No. Label Ultimate strength/kN Nuc/Nue Initial stiness/105 kN EAsg,c/EAsg,e Ductility coecient

Measured Nue Predicted Nuc Measured EAsg,e Predicted EAsg,c

1 GC1-1 755.0 730.3 0.967 4.28 4.37 1.021 8.3

2 GC1-2 701.3 730.3 1.041 4.39 4.37 0.995 8.0
3 GC2-1 941.7 903.5 0.959 5.81 5.11 0.879 15.4
4 GC2-2 928.1 903.5 0.974 5.05 5.11 1.012 14.0
5 HSC-1 549.3 557.4 1.015 3.54 3.43 0.970 7.7
6 HSC-2 535.2 557.4 1.042 3.42 3.43 1.004 8.3
7 GCL-1 8906.0 8642.5 0.970 49.86 47.54 0.954 9.9
8 GCL-2 8773.7 8642.5 0.985 52.23 47.54 0.910 8.4

Mean 0.994 0.968

COV 0.034 0.053

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Fig. 9. Axial load-strain relations of GFDST stub columns (a) HSC-1 (b) GC1-1 (c) GCL-1 (d) GC2-1.

3.2.4. Ductility
The ductility coecient of beam-column specimen can also be
calculated according to Eq.(3), where the axial load-lateral displace-
ment (N) curve was used in the calculation. Table 4 shows the
predicted results. It can be seen that the average for GBC1 and GBC2
series were 12.8 and 5.6, respectively. The average ultimate exural
strength for GBC1 and GBC2 series was 9.8 kN m and 19.6 kN m,
respectively. The load decrease is faster when subjected to larger
moment, therefore decreases signicantly as load eccentricity in-
creases.

Fig. 10. Typical failure modes of GFDST beam-column.

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W. Li et al.
Fig. 11. Axial load-displacement relations of GFDST beam-columns (a) Axial load - lateral displacement relations (b) Axial load - axial displacement relations.
Fig. 12. Axial load versus strain relations of GFDST beam-columns (a) Side far from
loading axis (b) Side close to loading axis.
3.3. Beam
3.3.1. Failure modes
Fig. 13 shows the typical failure modes for the beam specimen. The
parabola-shaped overall deformation occurred in the pure bending
segment. Similar to that of beam-column, both outward and inward
buckling was observed near the mid-span cross section of the outer and
inner tubes, respectively. The crush as well as the crack of grout was
found at the buckling region. Several major cracks were developed with
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Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319
the maximum width of 0.7 mm near the crushed region. For the grout
on the tensile side, several parallel cracks were developed along the
transverse direction with the maximum width of 1 mm and the average
distance of 15 mm. Meanwhile, cracks along the longitudinal direction
were also developed due to the brittle failure of grout. When compared
to CFDST beams, longitudinal cracks occur on GFDST ones and the
distribution of cracks is more irregular.
3.3.2. Load versus deformation relations
The moment versus mid-span deformation (M) relations for beam
specimens are shown in Fig. 14(a), where the moment is obtained by
multiplying the support resistance (N/2) with the horizontal length
between the hinged support and the rolling end of the spread beam
(290 mm), as depicted in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the relation has an
initial elastic stage and an elastic-plastic stage, while the moment
decreases after then due to the buckling of the steel tubes and the
failure of sandwiched grout. For the GFDST beam, the elastic-plastic
segment also occurs earlier than the CFDST specimen as the stiness of
the grout is smaller. The unloading stiness is almost the same as the
initial bending stiness for the recovery of elastic deformation. The
moment versus curvature (M) relations are also presented in
Fig. 14(b), where similar characteristic is exhibited as the M relation.
The curvature corresponding to ultimate exural strength is approxi-
mately 0.2 m1, which also indicates the bending of beam specimen is
suciently developed.
3.3.3. Strain response
Fig. 15 depicts the moment versus strain (M) relations for beam
specimens, where the labels 1, 4, 5 and 8 represent the strain at the
transverse (hoop) direction, while labels 2, 3, 6 and 7 represent the
strain at the longitudinal direction.
The longitudinal direction of the beam bottom was under tension
during the test. The longitudinal strain of both inner and outer tube was
positive, while the transverse strain was negative. For the strain on the
beam top, the longitudinal strain of both inner and outer tube was
negative, while the transverse strain was positive. The strains of the
inner tube were smaller than those of the outer tube in general, as
larger deformation occurred on the outer tube for the geometric
conguration. Meanwhile, the longitudinal tensile strain of the outer
tube reached over 20,000 as large bending deformation occurred on
the beam.
3.3.4. Ductility
The ductility coecients of beam specimens GB-1 and GB-2
obtained from moment versus mid-span (M) relations are 10.1 and
8.6, respectively. The average for beam specimens is 9.4, which
indicates good ductility for the GFDST beam specimens.
W. Li et al. Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319

Table 4
Test results of GFDST beam-columns and beams.

No. Label Ultimate compressive strength/kN Nuc/Nue Ultimate exural strength/kN m Muc/Mue Initial stiness/102 kN EIsg,c/EIsg,e Ductility
coecient
Measured Nue Predicted Nuc Measured Mue Predicted Muc Measured EIsg,e Predicted EIsg,c

1 GBC1-1 479.2 429.5 0.896 9.6 8.6 0.895 N/A N/A N/A 12.8
2 GBC1-2 494.0 429.5 0.869 9.9 8.6 0.868 N/A N/A N/A 12.6
3 GBC2-1 283.8 235.6 0.830 19.9 16.5 0.829 N/A N/A N/A 6.6
4 GBC2-2 276.4 235.6 0.852 19.3 16.5 0.855 N/A N/A N/A 4.5
5 GB-1 N/A N/A N/A 28.5 22.6 0.792 8.26 8.90 1.078 10.1
6 GB-2 N/A N/A N/A 30.8 22.6 0.733 9.46 8.90 0.940 8.6

Mean 0.862 0.828 1.009

COV 0.032 0.071 0.096

Fig. 13. Typical failure modes of GFDST beams.

4. Stiness and strength prediction EAsg = EsAso + EsAsi + EgAg (4)

4.1. Compressive and bending stiness
The compressive stiness of GFDST cross section (EAsg) is contrib-
uted by the outer tube, sandwiched grout and inner tube, and it can be
tentatively estimated as follows:
where Es and Eg are the modulus of elasticity of steel and grout,
respectively; Aso, Asi and Ag are the cross-sectional areas of the outer
tube, inner tube and grout, respectively.
The measured values of modulus of elasticity are used in the
calculation. Table 3 lists the measured compressive stiness EAsg,e

Fig. 14. Moment versus deformation relations of GFDST beams (a) Moment vs. mid-span displacement (b) Moment vs. curvature relation.

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W. Li et al. Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319

Fig. 15. Moment-strain relations of GFDST beam (GB-1) (a) Bottom side (b) Top side.

1500
Series-1 1402.5mm 15000
Series-2 761.6mm 4508mm
Prediction 1402.5mm 4008mm
Compression, N(kN)

Compression, N(kN)
1142mm
1402.5mm
1000 1142mm 10000

500 5000

0 0
HSC GC1 GC2 GCL
Fig. 16. Measured and predicted ultimate strength of GFDST stub columns.

and the predicted ones EAsg,c. The mean and COV for EAsg,c/EAsg,e are strength, the ultimate strength of the GFDST cross section can be
0.968 and 0.053, respectively. calculated accordingly as follows [13]:
On the other hand, the elastic exural stiness of GFDST cross
Nu = fosg (Aso + Ag ) + fsi Asi (6)
section (EIsg) can be tentatively calculated as follows:
EIsg = EsIso + EsIsi + EgIg (5) fosg = k1C1 2 fso + C2(1.14 + 1.02o )fg (7)
where Iso , Isi and Ig are the second moment of area of the cross sections where fso, fsi and fg are the yield stress of outer tube, yield stress of inner
of outer steel tube, inner steel tube and grout, respectively.
tube and compressive strength of grout, respectively; k1=1 if the
The predicted EIsg,c results for the beam specimens using measured
thickness of steel tube is less than 16 mm; C1 = /(1 + ),
material properties are presented in Table 4, together with the Aso fso f
C2 = (1 + n )/(1 + ), o = = n fso , = Aso / Ag , n = Aso / Age ,
measured ones EIsg,e. The average of EIsg,c/EIsg,e is 1.009, which Age fg g
indicates the proposed equations may overestimate the exural stiness Age =
D
tso ) ; is the hollow ratio.
( 2o 2

of GFDST members. Improvement can be made by making reduction of
grout contribution in further study.
4.2. Compressive strength for stub column
So far there is no specic equation for the prediction of GFDST
member capacities. It is found from previous test that the hardened
grout exhibits a concrete-like behaviour generally. From the analysis of
the failure mode, the grout in the GFDST members can provide support
to the steel tubes and improve the buckling mode, which is similar to
that of CFDST specimen. The outer steel tube can also provide
connement to the sandwiched grout and change the failure mode of
this brittle material. Therefore it is assumed that the strength prediction
equation for CFDST specimen may be used for GFDST specimen
tentatively.
Han et al. [13] proposed equations to predict the compressive
strength of CFDST stub column, where the strength enhancement of
sandwiched concrete attributing to the connement eect was taken
into account. By substituting the concrete strength with the grout
The grout strength for small and large specimens in calculation is set
as 32.5 MPa and 34.9 MPa, respectively, according to and Han et al.
[11]. The predicted ultimate strength for GFDST stub column Nue is
depicted in Fig. 16, and the ultimate compressive strength for the
hollow steel tubes is calculated by fsoAso+fsiAsi. The ratio between
measured and predicted result Nuc/Nue is also presented in Table 3. It
can be seen that the predicted results match the measured ones well.
For all stub column specimens, the mean and coecient of variation
(COV) for Nuc/Nue are 0.994 and 0.034, respectively. For the GFDST
stub columns only, the mean and coecient of variation (COV) for Nuc/
Nue are 0.983 and 0.030, respectively.
4.3. Flexural strength
The prediction method for exural strength of the CFDST structure
was proposed by Han et al. [13]. These equations are adopted for
GFDST structure tentatively as follows:
Mu = m1Wscmfosg + m2Wsifsi (8)

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W. Li et al. Thin-Walled Structures 116 (2017) 307319

5. Conclusions

A series of experimental investigations was conducted on the GFDST

members under concentric compression, eccentric compression and
bending. The following conclusions can be drawn based on the limited
study in this paper:

Fig. 17. Measured and predicted MN curve of GFDST member.
where,
m1 = 0.48 ln(o + 0.1)(1 + 0.06 0.85 2 ) + 1.1, Wscm =
[d 4 (d 2ti )4]
m2 = 0.02 2.76 ln o + 1.04 0.47 , Wsi =
32d
The predicted results Muc are listed in Table 4 and compared with
the experimental ones Mue. The ratios between measured and predicted
result Muc/Mue are also presented in the same table. It can be seen that
the mean for Muc/Mue for beam specimens is 0.763. In general the
current equations can make reasonable while conservative results.
4.4. Compression-bending interaction relation
Han et al. [13] also proposed design equations for the prediction of
compression-bending interaction relation for CFDST members, where
the MN relation was described using a combination of straight line and
parabolic line as the GFDST beam-column exhibited a similar behaviour
of the CFDST one. The ultimate strength for GFDST beam-column can
be calculated tentatively as follows [13]:
(1) The in-lled grout worked well with both inner and outer steel
tubes and changed the failure mode of the double skin steel tubular
specimens. The outward buckling of the outer tube, inward buck-
ling of the inner tube, as well as the crush and fracture of
sandwiched grout was found in the concentrically-compressed
GFDST stub columns. The outward buckling could also occur in
the inner tube when the GFDST specimen had large hollow ratio.
For the beam-column specimens, the overall bending deformation
was observed along with the outward buckling of outer steel tube at
the middle height. For the beam specimens, the buckling of the
tubes and the crush and fracture of grout was exhibited, while the
overall bending shape followed a parabolic line.
(2) The in-lled grout could enhance the stiness and strength of
GFDST members. The initial stiness and ultimate strength for
GFDST stub column (GC1 series) was enhanced by 25% and 34%
(D 4 d 4 ) when compared to the hollow counterparts (HSC series), respec-
,
32D tively, while the hollow ratio was 0.84 and the thickness of annulus
grout was only 10.5 mm.
.
(3) The ductility coecient of GFDST stub column specimens was
increased when compared to the hollow steel counterparts. The
average ductility coecient of tested GFDST stub column speci-
mens was 10.7, while it was 8.0 for the hollow steel tubes. For the
beam-columns and beams, the average ductility coecients were
9.1 and 9.4, respectively, which indicated good ductility of the
GFDST members attributing to the sandwiched grout.
(4) The member stiness was calculated by summarizing the contribu-
tions of all components. It was found that the predicted axial
compressive stiness generally matched well with the measured
one, while the exural stiness may be overestimated if the
contribution of grout was fully considered. The ultimate strength
of GFDST stub columns, beam-columns and beams was calculated
using the equations for CFDST members tentatively. In general the
equations provide reasonable predictions of the member capacities,
although the ultimate strength of beam specimen was underesti-
mated, which may require further study in the future.

a M
N
+ d2 M = 1 (N / Nu 23o ) Acknowledgements
N u 2 u

N 2 N The research reported in the paper is part of Tsinghua University

1M 3
b2 Nu c2 Nu + d2 Mu = 1 (N / Nu < 2 o ) Initiative Scientic Research Program (No. 2013Z02) and Opening
(9) Funds of State Key Laboratory of Building Safety and Built Environment
1 o 2(o 1) (BSBE2016-03). The nancial support is highly appreciated.
where, a 2 = 1 22o , b2 = , c2 = , d 2 = 1 0.4(N / NE ), and
3o2 o
2
o = (0.18 0.2 )o1.15
+ 1, References

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