Influence of compressive load on concrete filled steel tubular column with variable thickness

The concrete-filled tubular (CFT) structure consists of high strength, favourable ductility, fire resistance and huge energy absorption. The cost and time of construction can be reduced as there is no shuttering required for CFT columns. The confinement outcome of CFT column possesses higher stiffness as compared to hollow steel tube columns. In this article, testing is administered on twelve specimens of natural and artificial sand M25 grade CFT columns with a ratio of diameter to variable tube thickness (D/t of 27.72, 22.18 and 18.48). The twelve CFT columns have been tested under axial compression. The behaviour of CFT columns has been studied in terms of axial load-carrying capacity, deflection and buckling effects and compared the behaviour with numerical results determined using Eurocode 4 and AISC 360-10. The performance of CFT columns increased, as the thickness of tube increased with the effective confinement. The experimental and the numerical results of CFT columns have been validated by using ANSYS 14.5. The axial load-carrying capacity of an artificial sand CFT specimen has been improved significantly. Therefore, the natural sand could be replaced with artificial sand for CFT columns.