Experimental study on partially-reinforced steel RHS compression members

This paper presents an experimental study on the behavior of axially-loaded steel RHS (rectangular hollow section) compression members that are partially reinforced along their lengths with welded steel plates. 28 slender column tests were carried out to investigate the effects of the slenderness ratio of the unreinforced member and the ratio of the reinforced length of the member to its entire length. In addition to the slender column tests, 14 stub-column tests were conducted to determine the basic mechanical properties of the test specimens under uniform compression. Test results show that both the compressive strength and stiffness of an RHS member can be increased significantly compared to its unreinforced counterpart even when only the central quarter of the member is reinforced. Based on the limited test data, it can be concluded that partial reinforcement is, in general, more effective in members with larger slenderness ratios. A simple design expression is also proposed to predict the compressive strength of RHS columns partially reinforced along their length with welded steel plates by modifying the provisions of AISC 360-10 to account for the partial reinforcement.