Behavior of Stiffened Stainless-Steel Tube Columns Filled with Steel Fiber Concrete

This research explored the performance of steel fiber concrete-filled stainless-steel tube columns stiffened with embedded carbon steel T-sections with various steel fiber ratios under biaxial bending conditions. A numerical parametric analysis was adopted, using finite element modeling with Abaqus CAE/2021 to evaluate the effects of the fiber ratio (ranging from 0% to 1.5%) on the load-bearing capacity and deflection behavior of columns. In addition, the compressive strength of concrete ranged between 45 and 65 MPa. An increase in the fiber ratio led to a substantial improvement in the ultimate load-bearing capacity (up to 24%), a reduction in deflection (of approximately 49%), and an improvement in column ductility, which were obtained at 1.25% fiber content. The addition of steel fibers enhanced column performance, and energy absorption improved by up to 27% compared to specimens without steel fibers. Experimental validation demonstrated improved accuracy in terms of behavior and predicted models. The conclusions of this work provide valuable design insights enabling the adaptation of the overall column system under complex loading scenarios.