Front. Struct. Civ. Eng.

2016, 10(3): 312–332

DOI 10.1007/s11709-016-0345-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting

frames achieved with sustainable CFST members
A. SILVAa, Y. JIANGa,b, L. MACEDOa, J. M. CASTROa,* , R. MONTEIROb, N. SILVESTREc
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto 4099-002, Portugal
b
Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy
c
IDMEC, LAETA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1649-004,
Portugal
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: miguel.castro@fe.up.pt

© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

ABSTRACT The main objective of the research presented in this paper is to study the bending behaviour of Concrete
Filled Steel Tube (CFST) columns made with Rubberized Concrete (RuC), and to assess the seismic performance of
moment-resisting frames with these structural members. The paper describes an experimental campaign where a total of
36 specimens were tested, resorting to a novel testing setup, aimed at reducing both the preparation time and cost of the
test specimens. Different geometrical and material parameters were considered, namely cross-section type, cross-section
slenderness, aggregate replacement ratio, axial load level and lateral loading type. The members were tested under both
monotonic and cyclic lateral loading, with different levels of applied axial loading. The test results show that the bending
behaviour of CFST elements is highly dependent on the steel tube properties and that the type of infill does not have a
significant influence on the flexural behaviour of the member. It is also found that Eurocode 4 is conservative in predicting
the flexural capacity of the tested specimens. Additionally, it was found that the seismic design of composite moment-
resisting frames with CFST columns, according to Eurocode 8, not only leads to lighter design solutions but also to
enhanced seismic performance in comparison to steel frames.

KEYWORDS concrete filled steel tubes, rubberized concrete, composite frames, seismic performance assessment

1 Introduction exhibit unique advantages over typical steel or reinforced

Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) members have become of
particular widespread structural use in high seismicity
areas. These members can be fabricated through precast or
cast-in-place concrete infill of steel tubes, with a wide
assortment of cross-section types, e.g., circular, square,
rectangular and elliptical. Their use ranges from column
type elements mainly subjected to axial loading, to beam-
column type elements that provide lateral stiffness and
resistance in multi-storey buildings. This structural solu-
tion can be found not only in novel structural designs, but
also in the retrofitting of damaged steel structures, such as
steel bridge piers after the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earth-
quake in Japan and the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the
USA, as stated by Elchalakani et al. [1]. CFST members
Article history: Received Dec 1, 2015; Accepted Jan 29, 2016
concrete solutions. The synergy that results from an
efficient combination of the two materials, namely by
infilling a steel tube with concrete, is reflected in an
increase of strength and, importantly, ductility, over steel
and reinforced concrete members. The increase that is
achieved in terms of ductility is a result of the interaction
developing between the steel tube and the concrete core.
The behavior of the concrete core is improved through
confinement effect provided by the steel tube, with gains in
material strength and ductility. On the other hand, the
concrete core contributes to restrain the steel tube by
preventing inwards local buckling and outwards local
buckling is delayed to higher levels of deformation. Based
on these considerations, CFST members are seen as an
attractive structural solution to adopt in seismic resisting
structures due to their ductility and energy dissipation
properties, and excellent hysteresis behavior under cyclic
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members
loading, as reported by Hajjar [2].
The study of the behavior of beam-column CFST
members has become an active research field during the
last few decades. Extensive research has been carried out in
the past aiming at the characterization of the behavior of
axially loaded CFSTs (e.g., Schneider [3], Han [4], Sakino
et al. [5], Liu and Gho [6] and Ellobody et al. [7]).
Regarding the flexural behavior of these elements, research
studies such as those carried out by Elchalakani et al. [1],
Varma et al. [8], Varma et al. [9], Han et al. [10],
Elchalakani et al. [11], Han [12], Han and Yang [13], Han
et al. [14], Zhang et al. [15], Elchalakani and Zhao [16] and
Jiang et al. [17], reported ductile behavior of CFSTs
subjected to flexural loading conditions. In recent years,
this research topic has progressed to more complex
domains, such as the cyclic behavior of composite frames
with CFST columns and beam-to-CFST connections, as
explored by Han et al. [18], Zhang et al. [19], Chen et al.
[20], Qin et al. [21] and Yang et al. [22]. Few studies have
been conducted on the seismic behavior of composite
frames with CFST members. Liu et al. [23] investigated the
behavior of concrete filled thin-walled steel tubular arches.
In general, there is extensive research work on the behavior
of concrete filled steel tube members under different
loading conditions, notwithstanding some more complex
topics that need further development, particularly in
seismic performance assessment of composite frames
with CFST columns.
Additionally, some work has been developed in recent
years in the field of CFST members with sustainable infill
materials. The use of recycled rubber particles in CFST
concrete infill was experimentally studied by Duarte et al.
[24] for stub columns under compression and by Duarte et
Table 1 EC4 and EC8 d/t limits for CFSTs
cross-section type Eurocode 4 DCM
1:5<q£2
235
d=t£90
d=t£90

fy
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
235
h=t£52
h=t£52

fy
313
al. [25] for stub columns under cyclic bending. The authors
highlighted the enhanced ductility of rubberized concrete
in comparison to standard concrete. Moreover, Yang and
Han [26] carried out an experimental assessment of the
behavior of recycled aggregate concrete filled steel tubular
long columns under compression. CFSTs with geopoly-
meric recycled concrete under axial loading have been
studied by Shi et al. [27], and the use of combined
demolished concrete lumps and fresh concrete in these
composite member types has also been recently
researched, namely by Wu et al. [28] and Wu et al. [29],
for long columns in cyclic bending. Overall, the use of
different novel and sustainable infill materials for concrete
filled steel tube members has become a trending research
topic related to CFSTs.
From a European design perspective, Eurocode 4 [30]
provides methods for the calculation of the capacity of
composite members under different loading conditions.
Additionally, the code prescriptions aim at preventing the
development of local buckling mechanisms in CFST
members, before the ultimate loads of the structural system
is reached. This is achieved by imposing cross-section
slenderness limits, as shown in Table 1. Moreover, The
European seismic code, Eurocode 8 [31], makes use of this
parameter for the definition of the ductility class require-
ments for dissipative elements, as shown in Table 1, where
fv is the yield strength of the steel tube.
This paper mainly focuses on: 1) the experimental
assessment of the influence of rubberized concrete (RuC)
in CFST members under monotonic and cyclic bending;
2) the comparison of the experimental results with
expected design capacities according to Eurocode 4; 3)
the assessment of the influence of CFST members in the
Eurocode 8
DCM DCH
2<q£4 q>4
235 235 235
d=t£90
d=t£90

fy fy fy
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
235 235 235
h=t£52
h=t£52

fy fy fy
314 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

design and seismic performance of moment-resisting
frames.
2 Description of the test campaign
2.1 Specimen definition and material properties
To characterize the behavior of CFST columns under
simple and combined bending, a comprehensive experi-
mental campaign was carried out. A total of 16 CFST
members of circular cross-section type, 12 of which made
with rubberized concrete (RuC) and the remaining with
standard concrete (StdC), 16 CFST members of square
cross-section type, 12 RuCFST and 4 StdCFST, and 4
RuCFST members of rectangular cross section were
selected and tested. For the definition of the test specimens
a number of parameters were considered, namely the cross-
section slenderness ratio d/t or h/t, the concrete aggregate
replacement ratio β, the axial load level n and the lateral
load type. The total length of each specimen was set to 2 m.
Regarding the parameter d/t or h/t, the former applied to
circular tubes and the latter to square and rectangular tubes,
d and h are the maximum external dimension of the
encasing steel tube, and t the corresponding thickness.
Aiming at assessing the influence of this parameter on
member ductility, both high and low values were
considered for circular and square specimens, taking into
account the requirements of Eurocode 8 for high and
medium ductility class CFSTs. Therefore, two different
circular cross-sections were adopted, both with an external
diameter of 219 mm but with a nominal tube thickness of 3
mm and 5 mm, two square cross-sections, namely one with
an external width of 180 mm and a nominal tube thickness
of 3 mm and another with 200 mm of width and 10 mm of
nominal thickness, and a single rectangular member with
external cross-section dimensions of 250 mm by 150 mm
Table 2 Steel tube material properties
steel tube thickness
steel section
μ(mm) σ fv(MPa)
C219
3 2.96 0.07
C219
5 4.72 0.11
S180
3 2.97 0.10
S200
10 9.75 0.15
R250
150
12 11.93 0.09
and a nominal thickness of 12 mm. Henceforth, the circular
steel tubes will be referred to as C219
3 and C219
5, the
square steel tubes as S180
3 and S200
10, and the
rectangular tube as R250
150
12. All steel tubes used in
the test campaign were cold-formed, and, considering that
each tube of the same steel section type comes from a
single lot, tensile testing of steel coupons taken from a set
of specimens was performed. In Table 2, a comparison
between the steel mechanical properties before and after
the cold-forming process, namely in terms of steel yield
strength, fv, and ultimate strength, fu, is shown. Addition-
ally, an assessment of the steel tube thickness was carried
out. To this end, a total of 8 thickness measurements per
specimen were performed. Table 2 summarizes the average
results obtained for each steel section type, in terms of
mean values μ and the corresponding standard
deviation σ.
Concerning the concrete used to infill the steel tubes, a
reference concrete StdC (β = 0%) and two rubberized
concrete mixtures, RuC5% (β = 5%) and RuC15% (β =
15%), were used in the test campaign. The Faury method
was implemented to determine the concrete mixing ratio of
concrete StdC, and only two different ranges of aggregate
size were used, namely fine aggregate 0/4 GF85 and coarse
aggregate 4/10 GC85/20. Additionally, concrete mixtures
RuC5% and RuC15% were created by replacing only the
largest range of aggregate size, 4/10 GC85/20, with a
percentage of the total amount of normal aggregate used
in a given mixture. Thus, a uniformity between the
granulometry of the replaced and replacement materials
was implemented. Although theoretically based on the
reference concrete by simple material quantity substitution,
the rubberized concrete mixtures have a modified mixing
ratio in order to have the same European slump class S3 of
12515mm across all concrete types. The obtained mixing
ratios for each concrete type are summarized in Table 3, as
well as the average cube compressive strength of the three
before cold-forming after cold-forming
fu(MPa) fv(MPa) fu(MPa)
343 414 308 373
341 405 393 485
353 421 320 403
411 519 425 525
560 581 550 585

Table 3 Concrete mixing ratios and material properties

mixing component
concrete type fc(MPa)
water(l/m3) cement(kg/m3) 0/4 GF85(kg/m3) 4/10 GC85/20(kg/m3) rubber(kg/m3)
StdC 216 420 551 1072 - 53
RuC5% 216 420 551 1019 54 39
RuC15% 227 420 542 896 158 20
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members 315

concrete types. The tested concrete cubes were taken increment.

during the steel tube column pouring process, and were
tested at 28 days of age.
All concrete mixtures had a similar formulation as those
considered in the experimental work carried out by Duarte
et al. [24] and Duarte et al. [25]. As reported by the authors,
RuC concrete mixtures were associated with larger
ductility in comparison with StdC concrete.
Since one of the main purposes of the research project is
to gauge the difference between the ductile behavior of
RuCFST and CFST, the likelihood of steel tube buckling at
a relative low bending deformation should be avoided.
Consequently, steel tubes C219
3, S180
3 and
R250
150
12 were only casted with concrete type
RuC15%, as opposed to tubes C219
5 and S200
10
which are infilled with the three concrete types.
As to the axial load level n, this factor was considered as
N0 =Nu , where N0 is the axial load applied to the specimen
and Nu is the cross-section bearing capacity, simply
defined as Nu ¼ Ac fc þ Aa fu , where Ac and Aa are the
concrete core and steel tube cross-section area, respec-
tively, fc and fu are the concrete compressive strength and
steel ultimate strength, respectively. Additionally, two
levels of axial load of the composite column were targeted,
namely n = 0% (simple bending) and n = 15% (combined
compression with bending) for circular members, and n =
0% and n = 10% for square and rectangular members.
The lateral loading protocol adopted for the cyclic tests
was based on the specimen drift θ dependent SAC loading
protocol [32], in which six cycles are imposed for θ =
0.375%, θ = 0.50% and θ = 0.75%, four cycles at θ = 1%,
and two cycles for the remaining levels of θ with 1%
All tested specimens are listed in Tables 4 and 5, in
which the specimen name is a simple concatenation of
cross-section type, concrete type, steel tube geometrical
properties, axial load level and lateral load type. Therefore,
a specimen designated by SR-RuC5%-180-3-10%-C refers
to a square RuCFST member, with β = 5%, with the steel
tube S180
3, under cyclic lateral loading with a constant
axial load level n = 10%.
2.2 Test setup
To combine the benefits of different experimental test
setups of CFST members, e.g., Han et al. [12] and Varma
et al. [33], as well as to minimise the costs and also the
preparation time associated with the test campaign, a steel
box testing device was developed, as shown in Figs. 1
and 2.
The testing device consists of a 1400
1400
60 mm
steel base plate, anchored to the strong floor with four
Ø25mm rods using holes near the corners, and four steel
walls with a height of 500 mm and a thickness of 50 mm
welded to each other and to the base plate. To stiffen their
connection to the base plate, five stiffeners are welded on
the exterior of each box wall. As a result, the internal
dimensions of the steel box are 750
750 mm. The internal
part of the box has custom made high strength steel bolts
and nuts, with four sets of bolts and nuts in each of the
walls. Each steel bolt has a length of 100 mm with an
additional Ø110 mm hexagon cap on one end, to increase
the contact area between the bolt and the test specimen. For
each bolt, two Ø110 mm steel nuts are used, one with a

Table 4 Circular specimen list

designation β steel tube axial load (kN) lateral load type
circular
CR-RuC15%-219-3-0%-M –
monotonic
CR-RuC15%-219-3-15%-M 222
C219
3
CR-RuC15%-219-3-0%-C –
cyclic
CR-RuC15%-219-3-15%-C 222
15%
CR-RuC15%-219-5-0%-M –
monotonic
CR-RuC15%-219-5-15%-M 290
C219
5
CR-RuC15%-219-5-0%-C –
cyclic
CR-RuC15%-219-5-15%-C 290
CR-RuC5%-219-5-0%-M –
monotonic
CR-RuC5%-219-5-15%-M 359
5% C219
5
CR-RuC5%-219-5-0%-C –
cyclic
CR-RuC5%-219-5-15%-C 359
CR-StdC-219-5-0%-M –
monotonic
CR-StdC-219-5-15%-M 380
0% C219
5
CR-StdC-219-5-0%-C –
cyclic
CR-StdC-219-5-15%-C 380
316 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Table 5 Square and rectangular specimen list

designation β steel tube axial load (kN) lateral load type
square
SR-RuC15%-180-3-0%-M –
monotonic
SR-RuC15%-180-3-10%-M 141
S180
3
SR-RuC15%-180-3-0%-C –
cyclic
SR-RuC15%-180-3-10%-C 141
15%
SR-RuC15%-200-10-0%-M –
monotonic
SR-RuC15%-200-10-10%-M 391
S200
10
SR-RuC15%-200-10-0%-C –
cyclic
SR-RuC15%-200-10-10%-C 391
SR-RuC5%-200-10-0%-M –
monotonic
SR-RuC5%-200-10-10%-M 391
5% S200
10
SR-RuC5%-200-10-0%-C –
cyclic
SR-RuC5%-200-10-10%-C 391
SR-StdC-200-10-0%-M –
monotonic
SR-StdC-200-10-10%-M 391
0% S200
10
SR-StdC-200-10-0%-C –
cyclic
SR-StdC-200-10-10%-C 391
rectangular
RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-0%-M –
monotonic
RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-10%-C 391
15% R250
150
12
RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-0%-M –
cyclic
RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-10%-C 391

Fig. 1 Overview of the designed steel box Fig. 2 Specimen placement in the steel box

thickness of 70 mm welded to the steel wall, to connect
with the bolt end, while another with 25 mm is placed
between the previous nut and the bolt hexagon cap, to
prevent any movement of the bolt during the test. After the
placement of the specimen inside the box, one should
unscrew the bolts until the bolt caps are in full contact with
the specimen, and finally, move the 25 mm nut along the
screw until it reaches the steel wall nut. As shown in Fig. 2,
additional filling steel plates are placed between the bolt
hexagon caps and the specimen in order to provide proper
basal restraint and load transfer. Due to the layout of the
bolts, only rectangular and square specimens can be
installed and laterally restrained without any member
adaptation. For circular steel tubes, additional steel plates
are welded to the bottom part of the tube in order to allow a
similar boundary connection to the box constraint
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members
Fig. 3 Base adptation for circular test specimens
mechanism, as shown in Fig. 3. In the test campaign, all the
specimens are desired to have a fully restrained base, with
a vertical and lateral force applied at the top, as illustrated
in Fig. 4.
Due to the characteristics of the test setup, the specimen
free length is approximately 1.35 m. Additionally, and due
to strength limitations of the testing device, the bending
tests of the rectangular cross-section columns were
performed imposing a moment in turn of the minor-axis.
Testing was conducted either up to specimen failure or
until reaching the range limits of the actuator. All test
specimens exhibited very ductile behavior and testing
proceeded in a smooth and controlled manner.
Fig. 4
317
3 Experimental bending tests
3.1 Test results
The main results obtained during the tests are presented in
the following paragraphs. A detailed discussion regarding
the behavior of the testing device is made by Silva et al.
[34]. Figure 5 shows the test results of the circular
composite columns, Fig. 6 depicts the results of the square
columns, and, finally, Fig. 7 shows the results of the
rectangular elements. The test results are presented for both
monotonic and cyclic loading cases, in the form of charts
showing the applied lateral force and the corresponding
specimen’s drift ratio, θ, obtained by dividing the top
lateral displacement imposed to the specimen by the
effective height of the specimen, equal to 1.35 m. It is
important to note that the maximum values of drift ratio, θ,
are different between specimens due to fact that rigid-body
rotations, resulting from the flexibility of the testing
device, were taken into account in the calculation of the
imposed lateral displacement (Silva et al. [34])
It is important to note that specimen CR-RuC15%-219-
3-0% tested under cyclic lateral loading (Fig. 5(a))
exhibited noticeable unsymmetrical hysteresis. It is
possible that this asymmetry may be due to a single or a
combination of different factors, namely some misalign-
ment of the center of the specimen and the lateral load
actuator (which may have resulted in some unexpected bi-
axial bending of the specimen during the test), the
orientation of the longitudinal weld of the steel tube, the
Test setup
318 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Fig. 5 Experimental behavior of specimens (circular composite columns). (a) CR-RuC15%-219-3-0%; (b) CR-RuC15%-219-3-15%;
(c) CR-RuC15%-219-5-0%; (d) CR-RuC15%-219-5-15%; (e) CR-RuC5%-219-5-0%; (f) CR-RuC5%-219-5-15%; (g) CR-StdC-219-5-
0%; (h) CR-StdC-219-5-15%
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members 319

Fig. 6 Experimental behavior of specimens (square columns). (a) SR-RuC15%-180-3-0%; (b) SR-RuC15%-180-3-10%; (c) SR-
RuC15%-200-10-0%; (d) SR-RuC15%-200-10-10%; (e) SR-RuC5%-200-10-0%; (f) SR-RuC5%-200-10-10%; (g) SR-StdC-200-10-0%;
(h) SR-StdC-200-10-10%
320 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Fig. 7 Experimental behavior of specimens (rectangular elements). (a) RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-0%; (b) RR-RuC15%-250-150-12-10%

variability of the steel tube thickness along the perimeter of
the cross-section, damage of the steel tube to one of the
sides of the plastic hinge zone, and significant asymmetry
of the aggregate particles (normal and rubber) in the cross
section of the plastic hinge zone.
In general, all monotonically tested composite columns,
in simple bending or combined bending with compression,
developed outwards local buckling shapes at the speci-
men’s plastic hinge region. Nonetheless, this proved to
have a negligible influence on the overall behavior of the
member, as denoted by the absence of strength degradation
in practically all specimens. However, the cyclic loaded
specimens exhibited larger levels of local buckling, with a
clear effect in the global behavior of the specimen, as
denoted by the presence of strength degradation during the
tests. Interestingly, the cyclic loaded thin-walled test
columns, i.e., using steel tubes C219
3, C219
5 and
S180
3, exhibited fracture of the steel tube at the plastic
hinge region, after very pronounced local buckling. The
remaining steel tube types, i.e., S200
10 and R250

150
12, did not display the same phenomenon, mainly
due to a much higher steel tube thickness than the
aforementioned specimen types. Figures 8 and 9 show
some examples of the global and local deformation of the
composite members at the final stages of each cyclic
bending test.
3.2 Influence of steel section infill with concrete
One key benefit of CFST members is the combination of
the advantages of both the encased and encasing materials,
significantly changing the overall behavior of the indivi-
dual concrete and steel parts. Therefore, and with the
objective of determining the improvement in bending
behavior prompted by simple steel section concrete infill,
one circular C219
3 hollow steel tube specimen was
tested under monotonic bending without axial force. Thus,
a comparison of the overall behavior can be made using a
compatible composite specimen CR-RuC15%-219-3-0%-
M, as shown in Fig. 10. Figure 11 shows the local buckling

Fig. 8 Global and local deformation of circular specimen CR-RuC5%-219-5-0%-C

 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members
Fig. 9 Global and local deformation of square specimen SR-RuC15%-180-3-0%-C
Fig. 10 Comparison of steel and CFST bending behavior
Fig. 11 Comparison of steel and CFST local buckling shapes
shape of the corresponding specimens at the final stage of
the experiment.
As expected, significant improvements in member
behavior, in terms of strength and ductility, are accom-
plished when the tube is infilled with concrete, with an
increase of 43% in peak lateral force. Moreover, the
analysis of the local buckling shapes shown in Fig. 11
reveals that both are similar in terms of amplitude, though
it was clear during the test that the maximum amplitude
321
was reached for lower level of bending deformation in the
case of the hollow steel tube specimen. However, a
comparison of the global force-deformation curves shows
that only in the case of the steel specimen does this local
buckling mechanism governs beam-column behavior. As
shown in Fig. 10, specimen C219
3 develops significant
strength degradation, whereas composite specimen CR-
RuC15%-219-3-0%-M exhibits a very stable post-elastic
behavior. Thus, the influence of steel section infill by
concrete not only increases the capacity of the member, but
also substantially enhances its ductility.
3.3 Influence of the type of infill concrete
One key objective of the test campaign was to assess the
behavior of sustainable CFST structural members, by
comparing both standard and rubberized concrete infill
types. To this end, only two steel sections, circular
C219
5 and square S200
10, were considered to have
all concrete types. Thus, all other test results are
disregarded in the following discussion. Figures 12 and
13 show a comparison of the different types on infill
concrete used in the tested composite columns, for both
monotonic and cyclic loading cases, for the selected
circular and square specimens, respectively.
In general, the test results show that, despite 20% and
60% reductions in concrete strength, column behavior is
not significantly different between the three concrete types
(StdC, RuC5% and RuC15%). It is important to note that
the square specimen SR-200-10 filled with RuC5% tested
in simple bending (Fig. 13), is noticeably different from the
remaining specimens (StdC and RuC15%), namely in
terms of stiffness and flexural capacity. This could be
explained either by the high variability of the steel tube
thickness, as well as some differences on the material
322 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Fig. 12 Influence of concrete type on the behavior of circular specimens

Fig. 13 Influence of concrete type on the behavior of square specimens

 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members
properties of the steel between this and the remaining
members. Disregarding this specimen, and for the limited
range of CFST members for this assessment, it is possible
to conclude that despite slight variations in terms of
member strength, the overall behavior and ductility of the
member is similar between specimens. This shows that the
bending performance of this type of composite element is
highly dependent on the steel tube, as fundamentally
different concrete cores have little to no influence on the
specimen’s behavior. This conclusion is applicable to both
circular and square cross-section type members, as
demonstrated by the test results.
3.4 Influence of cross-section slenderness
Cross-section slenderness has a considerable influence on
the behavior of a structural member, regardless of the type
of loading or material. In the case of CFSTs, this parameter
is defined as the ratio d/t for circular specimens, or h/t for
square and rectangular specimens, and has an influence on
a number of behavioral characteristics such has member
capacity, local buckling mechanism, ductility and cyclic
load degradation. In the context of the test campaign, only
specimens of circular steel sections C219
3 and C219
5,
and square steel sections S180
3 and S200
10, with
concrete infill RuC15%, have compatible test results.
Fig. 14 Influence of cross-section slenderness on the behavior of circular specimens
323
Thus, in Figs. 14 and 15, this assessment is carried out for
both monotonic and cyclic loading cases, for the selected
circular and square test specimens, respectively. In the
plots, the normalized lateral force was obtained by
dividing, for every point of the curve, the lateral force by
the corresponding maximum absolute value, i.e., the
maximum between the maximum positive value and
maximum absolute negative value of applied lateral force
during the test.
For circular composite specimens, the test results
indicate a slight influence of cross-section slenderness on
the overall behavior of the member, in addition to an
expected increase in member strength and stiffness, as the
d/t ratio decreases. The monotonic test results do not
indicate large differences between both members, in spite
of a 40% reduction in d/t from specimen CR-219-3 to CR-
219-5. As for the cyclically loaded specimens, the same
conclusion can be withdrawn, if the asymmetric behavior
of some tests is taken into account. Conversely, the square
columns show a more noticeable influence of h/t on the
behavior of the member. In the monotonic tests, the
ductility of the member is lower for the thin-walled
column, SR-180-3, as the peak bending capacity is reached
and some strength degradation is observed during the test.
Moreover, in the cyclic tests, a lower value of h/t was
associated with lower cyclic strength degradation, as is
324 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332
Fig. 15 Influence of cross-section slenderness on the behavior of square specimens
the case of specimen SR-200-10. Particularly, for the case
of combined bending with compression, significant
differences in cyclic load degradation and member
ductility can be seen between both SR-180-3 and
SR-200-10 specimens, with the thin-walled column
exhibiting a much poor behavior. Generally, significant
variations in member behavior and ductility are only
substantial for square cross-section members, possibly
validating the considerable performance of circular CFST
members in comparison with other cross-section types, in
line with the prescriptions of Eurocode 4 and Eurocode 8
for composite columns.
3.5 Comparisons with Eurocode 4
Taking into account the procedures for the calculation of
the bending capacity of CFST columns presented in
Eurocode 4, it is possible to evaluate the accuracy of the
code in predicting the strength of the composite specimens
that were tested in the experimental campaign described
before in this paper. Since no consideration is given in the
code to the type of loading, i.e., monotonic or cyclic, these
comparisons can only be carried out for the monotonic
cases. Therefore, in the following paragraphs a comparison
is shown between the obtained peak bending moment in
the test MuTEST , given by the multiplication of the peak
applied lateral force FuTEST by the free length of the column
(1.35 m), and the corresponding value calculated with EC4
MREC4 using the yield steel strength fv and average steel
tube thickness listed in Table 2, and the concrete
compressive strength fc listed in Table 3. The calculation
procedure of MREC4 for CFSTs of circular and square/
rectangular members is provided by Silva et al. [34],
respectively. No material partial safety factors were
considered in the application of EC4, either for the steel
tube or for the concrete core. Table 6 shows a summary of
this comparison, separated between circular and square/
rectangular columns, where μ is the average difference of
MREC4 /MuTEST and σ the corresponding standard deviation.
The analysis of the obtained results reveals that EC4 is
conservative in predicting the bending capacity of the
tested CFST and RuCFST specimens. Average differences
of 24% and 13% between the code and the experimental
results were identified for circular and square/rectangular
specimens, respectively. More importantly, one can
conclude that no significant differences were found
between MREC4 /MuTEST for StdC and RuC type members.
This confirms once again the reduced influence of concrete
type on the bending behavior of a CFST member.
As the confinement effect of the concrete core is only
significant for the case of circular members under
compression loading, one can disregard this concrete
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members 325

Table 6 EC4 design comparisons for monotonically tested specimens

specimen FuTEST (kN) MuTEST (kN) MREC4 (kNm) MREC4 /MuTEST μ σ
circular
CR-RuC15%-219-3-0%-M 47.8 64.5 48.7 0.75
CR-RuC15%-219-3-15%-M 54.8 74.0 53.8 0.73
CR-RuC15%-219-5-0%-M 89.1 120.2 93.9 0.78
CR-RuC15%-219-5-15%-M 99.7 134.6 98.3 0.73
0.76 0.023
CR-RuC5%-219-5-0%-M 94.8 127.9 99.0 0.77
CR-RuC5%-219-5-15%-M 103.1 139.1 106.9 0.77
CR-StdC-219-5-0%-M 96.5 130.3 101.6 0.78
CR-StdC-219-5-15%-M 105.3 142.2 111.4 0.78
square and rectangular
SR-RuC15%-180-3-0%-M 40.3 54.4 51.6 0.95
SR-RuC15%-180-3-10%-M 31.0 41.9 54.5 1.30
SR-RuC15%-200-10-0%-M 229.8 310.2 237.2 0.76
SR-RuC15%-200-10-10%-M 210.0 283.5 239.4 0.84
SR-RuC5%-200-10-0%-M 268.0 361.9 245.3 0.68
0.87 0.170
SR-RuC5%-200-10-10%-M 231.8 312.9 250.6 0.80
SR-StdC-200-10-0%-M 236.9 319.8 249.9 0.78
SR-StdC-200-10-10%-M 226.0 305.2 256.3 0.84
RR-RuC15%-250-12-0%-M 260.5 351.7 286.4 0.81
RR-RuC15%-250-12-10%-M 231.0 311.9 287.2 0.92

behavioral enhancement as the main reason for the
conservativeness of EC4. However, other factors may
justify the differences observed, namely the multiaxial
stress state in the steel tube or the fact that the EC4
calculations were performed based on the yield stress of
the material. According to EC4, the steel yield properties
must be used, meaning that any material hardening is not
taken into account. However, if the ultimate steel strength
fu was used instead of fv, the average difference would
change to a conservative 9% for circular and non-
conservative 3% for square and rectangular specimens.
Finally, the high variability of the test specimen’s real steel
tube thickness, reported in Silva et al. [34] and Silva et al.
[35], can also play a key role in these conclusions,
particularly in the case of monotonic tests, where cross-
section asymmetry can amplify the member bending
capacity compared to a specimen with an average
thickness, if the right alignment conditions are met.
Finally, in spite of the differences between the material
properties of the standard and rubberized concrete types,
the comparison of the test results with the code shows that
the design assumptions of EC4 in the context of RuCFST
columns are still valid, confirming in this way the
applicability of the European code to the design of
both CFST and RuCFST members subjected to
bending.
4 Seismic performance assessment of
composite moment resisting frames
4.1 Definition of the parametric study
A parametric study is now described that aims at
investigating the seismic performance of composite
moment-resisting frames consisting of steel beams and
CFST columns. The study focuses on the analysis and
design of a 5-storey building structure with the plan layout
and elevation shown in Fig. 16.
In the longitudinal (X) direction the seismic resistance is
provided by moment-resisting frames spaced at 6 m. In the
transverse (Y) direction the seismic resistance is assured by
a bracing system. The investigation will focus on the
central moment-resisting frame identified in Fig. 16. Four
different frame solutions will be considered for this frame,
as listed in Table 7. In the table, both IPE and HEB are
designations of European standard steel open sections with
I or H shape, respectively.
The cases are equivalent in what concerns the building
and frame layout, gravity loads, seismic location, ductility
class, design criteria (e.g., P – Δ effects, capacity design,
and damage limitation) and design method. In the
following paragraphs, more detail is given about these
aspects. It is important to note that the only difference
326 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Fig. 16 Building layout

Table 7 List of cases considered in the parametric study Table 8 Vertical distributed loads
case frame type beam type column type storey load type load (kN/m2) frame storey mass (t)
1 steel HEB gk 4.75
top storey 34.20
2 circular CFST qk 1.00
IPE
3 composite square CFST intermediate gk 5.75
45.72
4 rectangular CFST storey qk 2.00

between the cases is the type of columns (steel or CFST)
that were used in the design of the frames.
All frames were designed in accordance with Eurocode
8 (EC8), considering the Portuguese National Annex.
Additionally, a bare steel moment-resisting frame was also
considered as part of the study. A dissipative structural
behavior concept was assumed in the seismic design of the
frames, considering a medium ductility class as defined in
EC8, corresponding to a behavior factor of q = 4. The
considered steel grade for all steel elements was S275, and
a concrete class C30/37 was assumed for the concrete infill
of the CFST members.
A summary of the vertical distributed loading is shown
in Table 8, where gk is the permanent and qk is the imposed
load. The transmission of vertical distributed loading to the
center frame was considered as point loads at each storey
level, in accordance with the positioning of the secondary
beams. Additionally, in order to calculate the storey masses
for seismic design, load combination gk + 0.3qk was
considered for the intermediate storey and gk + 0.0qk for
the top storey, in accordance with the EC8 design
requirements. The slabs are considered to act as rigid
diaphragms, thus, each storey mass can be equally
distributed by the three longitudinal frames, as shown in
Table 8.
The building is considered to be located in the south of
Portugal, in the city of Lagos. The parameters required for
the definition of the elastic response spectra that are
specified in the Portuguese National Annex of Eurocode 8
are shown in Table 9. Seismic design was performed taking
into account second-order effects (P – Δ effects), by
limiting the maximum value of the interstorey drift
sensitivity coefficient θ to 0.2. The EC8 capacity design
beam-column joint requirement ΣMRc ³1:3ΣMRb was also
taken into account in the design of all frames (for a given
joint, ΣMRc is the sum of the design values of moments of
resistance of the columns and ΣMRb is the sum of the
design values of moments of resistance of the beams).
Moreover, the damage limitation performance requirement
was considered in the seismic design by limiting the inter-
storey drift to dr £0:0075h (dr is the design inter-storey
drift,  is the reduction factor which takes into account the
lower return period of the seismic action associated with
the damage limitation requirement and h is the storey
height) . All frames were designed based on the modal
response spectrum analysis method.
The obtained design solutions for all cases are
summarized in Table 10. For the composite moment
resisting frames, available commercial steel tube sections
were considered for the CFST columns. For the circular
Table 9 Elastic response spectra parameters
spectrum ground type aa (m/s2) S TB (s) TC (s) TD (s)
type 1 2.50 1.175 0.10 0.60 2.00
B
type 2 1.70 1.268 0.10 0.25 2.00
 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members 327

Table 10 Seismic design solutions

Case 1 Case 2
storey beams exterior columns interior columns storey beams exterior columns interior columns
5 IPE300 HEB180 HEB200 5 IPE300 323.9
6 404.6
6
4 IPE330 HEB220 HEB280 4 IPE330 323.9
6 404.6
10
3 IPE330 HEB220 HEB280 3 IPE330 323.9
8 404.6
10
2 IPE400 HEB240 HEB340 2 IPE400 323.9
8 404.6
10
1 IPE400 HEB240 HEB340 1 IPE400 323.9
10 404.6
12
Case 3 Case 4
storey beams exterior columns interior columns storey beams exterior columns interior columns
5 IPE300 200
10 300
10 5 IPE300 250
150
8 300
200
10
4 IPE330 200
10 300
10 4 IPE330 250
150
8 300
200
10
3 IPE330 250
10 350
10 3 IPE330 300
200
8 400
200
12
2 IPE400 250
10 350
10 2 IPE400 300
200
8 400
200
12
1 IPE400 250
10 350
10 1 IPE400 300
200
10 400
200
12

Table 11 Dynamic properties and steel weight sumamry
case T1 (s) steel weight (t) concrete volume (m3)
1 1.29 11.4 -
2 1.14 10.4 13.0
3 1.18 11.2 5.3
4 1.18 10.7 3.6
and square members, the tubular section designation is
shown as d
t and h
t, respectively, and for rectangular
cross-sections as h
b
t. Moreover, d and h are the
maximum and b the minimum external dimension of the
steel tube cross-section, and t its thickness. Additionally,
Table 11 compares the corresponding design solution’s
fundamental period T1, steel weight and column infill
concrete volume.
The analysis of the obtained design solutions allows
concluding that some reductions in steel weight can be
achieved with the use of CFST columns, as an alternative
to standard steel sections such as the ones used in the steel
moment-resisting frame, i.e., Case 1. Although this was
attained by the introduction of some concrete in the
solution, the considerable difference in material cost
between concrete and steel results in an almost insignif-
icant contribution of CFST infill to the overall structural
cost. However, it is important to note that the overall cost
of the structure may increase with the use of CFST
columns, given that member joints, foundations and
construction time, are aspects that will become more
complex and costly. Nonetheless, even though the overall
cost of the composite frame is equivalent or higher than
that of a steel frame, this may be justifiable if benefits are
achieved from a seismic performance perspective.
The seismic performance assessment of two frames
(Cases 1 and 2) and the description of the developed
numerical modeling framework will be conducted in the
following sections.
4.2 Numerical modeling
The seismic performance assessment of the frames of
Cases 1 and 2 was performed in OpenSees [35] by
adopting a simplified numerical modeling approach. Both
beam and column members were simulated with concen-
trated plasticity approach at both element ends, using the
numerical parameters calibration procedure proposed by
Araújo et al. [36]. This procedure makes use of advanced
full 3D numerical models of singular elements under
monotonic and cyclic bending loading conditions, in order
to calibrate the deterioration model parameters of the
concentrated plasticity springs in OpenSees. The Modified
Ibarra-Medina-Krawinkler deterioration model [37] was
used to simulate the nonlinear material behavior of steel
and CFST members. While bilinear hysteretic response
was adopted for steel beams and columns, peak-oriented
hysteretic response was utilized to simulate the behavior of
CFST columns. The advanced numerical modeling of the
steel beams and columns was performed in ANSYS [38],
and of the CFST elements in ABAQUS [39]. Figure 17
shows one example of the aforementioned calibration
procedure, namely in terms of comparing the behavior of
both the advanced 3D model (ANSYS and ABAQUS,
respectively) and the concentrated plasticity simplified
model in OpenSees.
Overall, a good correlation between both models was
achieved with the use of a calibration procedure to
determine the deterioration model parameters, allowing
for a realistic simulation of the response of the moment-
resisting frames in OpenSees.
328 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332

Fig. 17 Concentrated plasticity calibration procedure for (a) a steel HEB340 member and (b) a circular CFST 404.6
12 member

4.3 Seismic performance assessment
The seismic performance assessment of the moment
resisting frames was performed for Case 1, and a single
composite frame, namely Case 2, through application of
the Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) procedure
proposed by Vamvatsikos and Cornell [40]. The 5%
damped first mode spectral acceleration was considered as
the seismic intensity measure (IM) and the maximum inter-
storey drift as the engineering demand parameter (EDP).
The SelEQ tool [41] was employed to define a group of 30
ground motions from real earthquake events that were
selected and scaled in order to have spectral shape
compatibility with the Eurocode 8 spectrum adopted in
the design of the two frames, as shown in Fig. 18.
The Hunt-and-fill algorithm proposed by the aforemen-

Fig. 18 Selected ground motions and scaling

 A. SILVA et al. Seismic performance of composite moment-resisting frames achieved with sustainable CFST members 329

Fig. 19 IDA curves of (a) Case 1(steel frame) and (b) Case 2 (composite frame with circular CFSTs)

Fig. 20 Fractile IDA curves of (a) Case 1(steel frame) and (b) Case 2 (composite frame with circular CFSTs)

both case studies, simplistically assuming a collapse limit-

Fig. 21 Collapse fragility curves of Cases 1 and 2
tioned authors was also used, allowing for a reduction in
the number of analysis per record required to obtain the
IDA curves. Figure 19 shows the IDA curves of Cases 1
and 2, respectively, and Fig. 20 shows the corresponding
16%, 50% and 84% fractile IDA curves. Additionally,
Fig. 21 shows the collapse fragility curves comparison of
state characterized by the flattening of the IDA curves,
which was considered to occur if the slope of the IDA
curve diminishes to 10% of the initial value.
It is important to note that both local and global ductility
criteria defined in EC8 were considered in the seismic
design of the cases. A more detailed look into the design
process shows that the capacity design ratios (ΣMRc =
ΣMRb ) of the joints of the frames are very similar between
cases, pointing therefore to the potential development of
similar collapse modes. As such, the collapse mechanism
developed in the frames is expected to be largely
dominated by stable weak beam-strong column mechan-
isms. This observation is further supported by nonlinear
static pushover analysis performed for both Case 1 and
Case 2, in which this collapse mechanism develops.
It is also important to note that the design of moment-
resisting multi-storey frames according to EC8 allows the
development of plastic hinges at beam ends (weak beam-
strong column criterion), at the bottom ends of the columns
located at the base level of the frame, and at the top ends of
the columns located on the top storey. Considering that the
only structural members that differ between cases are the
330 Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 2016, 10(3): 312–332
columns, it becomes evident that the formation of a plastic
hinge at the base of the structure will undoubtedly explore
the behavior of these elements. As such, the difference
between the behavior of CFST and steel members at the
base of the frames can significantly influence the behavior
of the frame, and thus the collapse fragility curves of the
cases.
By analyzing the obtained fragility curves, one is able to
conclude that the composite moment-resisting frame
exhibits better seismic performance, in comparison with
the steel frame. As an example, for a 1.0 g value of
Sa ðT1 ,   5%Þ, the probability of exceedance of the defined
collapse limit state is around 60% for the steel frame,
whereas a value of 5% value is observed for the composite
frame. This conclusion can be explained by the improved
ductility properties of CFST members in comparison to
steel only elements. A comparison of the hysteretic
behavior of the interior base column of Case 1, namely
steel section HEB340, and Case 2, namely circular CFST
404.6
12, shows that cyclic degradation takes place at
higher levels of rotation for the composite element, as
shown in Fig. 22. Therefore, for the same level of seismic
demand of a given moment-resisting frame, the improved
ductility properties of the CFST columns allows for lower
probability of exceedance for a specific collapse limit state
for a given IM value. This is further supported by
analyzing the IDA curves, where the flattening of the
curves in Case 2 starts to occur for higher levels of the
EDP.
Fig. 22 Hysteretic behavior of a compatible steel and CFST
column
Overall, it is possible to conclude that the analyzed
composite moment-resisting frame shows increased seis-
mic performance in comparison to the steel frame. This
was achieved with the use of concrete filled steel tube
columns, and allows for some reductions in the steel
weight of the design solution. It is therefore expected that,
based on the improved seismic performance achieved with
the use of CFST members, the seismic resilience of the
structure may be enhanced in comparison to more tradition
steel moment-resisting solutions.
5 Conclusions
In this paper, an evaluation of the seismic performance and
resilience of moment resisting frames with sustainable
CFST members was achieved. The following conclusions
can be withdrawn:
 The developed box testing device performed very well
throughout the test campaign, proving to be a noteworthy
alternative to the traditional test setup;
 Infill of the steel tube by concrete has the ability to
significantly enhance the ductility of the member, in
addition to an expected increase in bending capacity;
 The tested CFST and RuCFST columns showed a very
ductile behavior, for both monotonic and cyclic bending
conditions;
 Concrete type effect in specimen behavior is
negligible, as different concrete types do not have a great
influence in the member’s bending behavior;
 Eurocode 4 is conservative in the prediction of the
flexural capacity of the tested specimens. Nonetheless, the
code proves to be applicable to the design of both CFST
and RuCFST members;
 Eurocode 8 has very restrictive cross-section slender-
ness requirements for dissipative elements for square and
rectangular members, in comparison to circular members;
 Seismic design of moment resisting frames using
CFSTs instead of steel columns may lead to savings in the
steel weight of beams and columns;
 Seismic performance assessment of Cases 1 and 2
(steel frame and composite frame with circular CFSTs,
respectively) show evidence of an increased seismic
performance of composite moment resisting frames using
CFST columns, in comparison to equivalent steel only
structural solutions.
Acknowledgements All the authors would like to acknowledge FCT for
the financial support through the research project “Recycling & Seismic
Protection: Sustainable High-Performance CFST Columns for Seismic
Areas” (PTDC/ECM/117774/2010). Also acknowledged is the support of
FERPINTA, by providing all the steel tubes for the experimental campaign,
and PRESDOURO, for providing the resources for the casting of the concrete
of the test campaign specimens.
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