Short Concrete-filled and Concrete Encased Steel Columns under Axial Compression: A Comprehensive Test Database

Steel-concrete composite columns have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their superior fire performance relative to conventional steel columns and enhanced seismic resilience compared to their reinforced concrete counterparts. Therefore, they are widely used in skyscrapers, bridges, underground infrastructure, offshore structures, and various other types of infrastructure. Considerable efforts have been made over the past few decades to provide valuable insight into the behaviour, performance, and applications of composite columns. Taking advantage of the vast experimental tests on composite columns, researchers have compiled several databases in recent years. Although these databases have laid the groundwork for subsequent studies, they suffer from some limitations, including incomplete data coverage and inconsistencies in data quality. As part of a project aiming at refining the current provisions of the AS/NZS 2327 standard for calculating the load-bearing capacity of steel-concrete composite columns by incorporating size effects, a new comprehensive database has been developed to validate the new equations proposed for the future edition of AS/NZS 2327. This state-of-the-art database, which addresses the limitations of earlier databases, covers a diverse range of column sizes, material properties, and shapes derived from the sources published to date. The new database encompasses 1994 experimental tests on concrete-filled steel columns (1192 circular columns and 802 rectangular/square columns) and 162 concrete-encased steel columns (96 fully encased and 66 partially encased composite columns) tested under concentric compression loads (without moments). This database is limited to short columns with length-to-diameter (or length-to-side length) ratios of less than 5.