Design method of short circular FRP-steel composite tubed RC columns under eccentric compression

Abstract A FRP-steel composite tubed reinforced concrete (F-STRC) column is fabricated by wrapping FRP sheets around a steel tubed reinforced concrete (STRC) column. To date, few studies focus on the design method of F-STRC columns under eccentric compression. A fibre-based numerical model was developed in this paper to simulate the axial load versus lateral displacement curves, based on which the calculation method for the sectional load bearing capacity was developed through the section analysis. However, the developed method is relatively complicated and inconvenient for practical design. Thus, on the basis of parametric studies, the concrete stress in the compression zone was equivalent to rectangular block and calculation methods for the equivalent stress block factors were proposed. A simplified design method was proposed for F-STRC columns under eccentric compression and generally in good agreement with the predicted results of section analysis.