See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/283147020

Behaviour of Composite Column of Cold-Formed Steel Section with Web-

Stiffener Integrated with Ferrocement Jacket

Conference Paper · January 2015

CITATIONS READS

0 155

1 author:

Mohamed Ragaee Badr

Housing and Building National Research Center
10 PUBLICATIONS 25 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Mohamed Ragaee Badr on 25 October 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 752-753 (2015) pp 533-538 Submitted: 2014-07-30
© (2015) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Revised: 2014-12-17
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.752-753.533 Accepted: 2014-12-18
Online: 2015-04-20

Behaviour of Composite Column of Cold-Formed Steel Section with

Web-Stiffener Integrated with Ferrocement Jacket
Khaled Alenezi1, a, Mahmood Md Tahir 1, b, Talal Alhajri1, c,
and Mohamad Ragae2, d
1
UTM Construction Research Centre, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University Teknologi Malaysia
(UTM), 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
2
Building and Housing National Center, Egypt, Cairo
a
enezi78@hotmail.com, bmahmoodtahir@utm.my, ct-alfahed@hotmail.com,
d
ragaee_badr@yahoo.com

Keywords: Axial Loading, Cold-Formed Steel, Composite Columns, Ferrocement Jacket

Abstract. Cold-formed steel (CFS) is known as slender or class 4 section due to high ratio of web-
to-thickness ratio. The compressive strength of this type of section is usually very low as it tends to
fail due to distortion and warping before reaching the actual compressive strength. The aim of this
study is to determine the ultimate capacity of build-up lipped CFS assembled with ferrocement
jacket where web-stiffener is provided as the proposed composite column (CFFCC) is under axial
compression load. Nine specimens of composite columns were prepared and tested. The main
parameters varied in the CFFCC columns are column height, cold-formed steel thickness and
influence of ferrocement jacket and web-stiffener. There are three different heights of the CFFCC
composite column namely 2000mm, 3000mm and 4000mm used in this study. All CFFCC columns
were tested under axial load where a thick steel plate is used to evenly distribute the applied load.
The results show the effect of providing both the ferrocement jacket to increase the confinement
effect and the web stiffener to provide sufficient lateral support to the column web. A significant
increase in both the strength and the ductility of the specimens under axial loading has been
recorded. The strength capacity of CFFCC has been improved by about 178% greater than that of
bare steel column. Also it is found that, axial load capacity of CFS-ferrocement jacket composite
columns (CFFCC) were increased with the increase in thickness of CFS. The use of web-stiffener
has improved the axial load capacity of the column but not that significant.

Introduction
The use of composite column in buildings has becoming popular due to the increase in loading
capacity and stiffness. The benefits of the composite beam have resulted in significant savings in
steel weight and reduce the size of the column. To obtain more economical structural design against
the cold-formed steel (CFS) as column, composite column is designed by taking the advantage of
incorporating the strength of ferrocement jacket by means of shear connectors. These advantages of
composite column could contribute to the dominance of composite beam in the commercial
building in steel construction industry. Compression members are the key elements of all skeletal
structures, and the study of their behavior is usually based on testing of specimen axially loaded at
the center of the columns [1, 2].
CFS is currently being used widely in residential and light commercial building constructions
instead of wood framing due to the decreasing supply of quality lumber and also due to the
environmental concern. Cold-formed steel sections are economical, light weight, high strength-to
weight ratio of any building material, non-combustible and also recyclable [3, 4]. CFS sections have
distinct structural stability problems, which are not observed in hot-rolled steel sections. In steel
compression members, three structural instability modes, namely local, distortional, and flexural–
torsional buckling are likely to occur of channel between flanges to web junction [5].
Recent researches have indicated that ferrocement jacketing may be used as an alternative
technique to strengthen RC columns with inadequate shear strength. The external confinement

All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans
Tech Publications, www.ttp.net. (ID: 91.227.24.152-25/10/15,07:14:06)
534 Advanced Engineering and Technology

using ferrocement has resulted in enhancing stiffness, ductility, and strength and energy dissipation
capacity as shown in Fig. 1 and 2. The mode of failure could be changed from brittle shear failure to
ductile flexural failure by the use of ferrocement jacket. The axial loads influence the response of
columns and the energy absorption capacity. The effect of axial compression on column response
was the acceleration of strength and stiffness degradation under repeated inelastic load cycles [6, 7].
Hence, cold-formed steel column assembled with ferrocement jacket composite columns
(CFFCC) seem to represent a promising combination. This study is aimed to combine between the
benefits of cold formed sections and those ferrocement-cold formed composite column. The
information provided from this study should be used to establish an alternative composite column
construction for the actual buildings, such as residential and commercial buildings.

Preparing Test Specimens

The test specimens are prepared in the laboratory of building and housing national center. The
cold-formed steel section of C-channel is assembled together as an I-section and encased with
ferrocement jacket. Self-compacting mortar (SCM) is used as this type of mortar has higher flow
ability than the typical concrete. The use of SCM will facilitate the spreading of mortar into small
holes of ferrocement wire mesh layers. The hydraulic cement matrix for ferrocement was designed
in accordance to European Federation of National Trade Associations standard mix for design
procedures of self compacting mortar [8]. A trial mix was examined depending on the water cement
ratio (w/c). The cement to sand dry weight ratio was 1:2.25 and batched in a horizontal electrically
operated mixer. Three of the nine cubes were tested at age 3, 7 and 28 days, respectively to get the
ultimate compressive strength (grade 35 MPa). This Mix was chosen in this investigation because
of its relevant strength and workability.
The CFS columns are manufactured from mild steel sheeting with a measured thickness of 2mm,
3mm, and 4 mm respectively. The steel cold-formed sheeting was cut and fabricated to build-up to
form as I-section of lipped C-channel column. Nine specimens of built-up back-to-back lipped C-
channel cold formed columns involved web-stiffener which was consisted of longitudinal CFS
column (formed as U-shape) were built up by self-drilling screw connectors. The spacing
distribution between the screws must be considered carefully to insure full bonding between
members and to resist any movement that may develop. The spacing distribution was adopted
according to ANSI/AISC 360 [9]. The height of a lip is 25 mm that intended to serve as a stiffener;
the web was 300mm where the flange was 150 mm for one systems of build-up of channels. The
casting of composite column was done in single stage. The column was cast in wooden mould of
different length size with cross section 400 mm × 250 mm. First of the entire column mould is
oiled. This is done so that the set CFFCC column can be easily removed from the mould after 24
hours. The cover blocks of size 25 mm are placed at the bottom and fixed at all directions to provide
uniform cover to the steel jacket reinforcement. Details of the setting up of the test and the
geometrical configuration are shown in Fig. 1 (a) and (b).

a) Cross section of tested column specimen

 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 752-753 535

b) Set-up of the tested column specimen

Fig. 1 Details of composite column (CFFCC) specimen

Test Set-up and Instrumentation

A 5000 kN capacity universal testing machine was used. The column specimen was centered in
the testing machine to ensure uniform axial load was applied without any eccentricity. The top and
bottom faces of specimen were grinded and made smooth and leveled to remove surface
imperfections and maintain uniformity of loading on the surface and jacketed by square reinforced
steel caps. The vertical displacement of the lower movable head of the testing machine was
measured in relation to the upper head of the testing machine by LVDT with magnetic base. This
measured displacement was assumed to be equal to the vertical shortening of the test specimen as
shown in Fig. 1.

Analysis of Test Results

The results showed that assimilation with ferrocement jacket improves the compressive strength
capacity of CFFCC. Consequently, all columns can carry additional load in the post-buckling
strength before failure occurs. This shows that ferrocement can enhance the column structural
performance and strength capacity. Taking the specimen C2FW-S(2) with height 2000 mm for
example, the column strengthened with ferrocement shows a maximum load was 2127.7 kN and
still within the elastic range while the control (without jacket)column C2FS(CFS) shows the
maximum load was 763.7 kN (Fig. 2). Beside that the ferrocement jacket contributed to enhance a
better resistance for laterally stress. This is due to the improvement of the resistance strength against
out-of-plane movement by ferrocement jacket and the bond strength of the shear connectors that
compensates the loss of its axial stiffness. The results that were sustained by each specimen are
summarized in Table 1. The results of each group of specimens were used later for parametric
study.

Fig. 2 Effect of ferrocement jacket with web-stiffener

536 Advanced Engineering and Technology

Table 1 Details of test results of composite column specimens (CFFCC)

Column
Group Specimen CFS thickness Ultimate Load,
Length
(tc)mm Pu (kN)
(mm)
C2FS(CFS) 2 763.7
G1 C2FW-S(2) 2 2127.76
2000
C3FW-S(2) 3 2551.51
C4FW-S(2) 4 2724.09
C2FW-S(3) 2 2081.29
G2 C3FW-S(3) 3000 3 2246.25
C4FW-S(3) 4 2300.35
C2FW-S(4) 2 1911.38
G3 C3FW-S(4) 4000 3 2099.42
C4FW-S(4) 4 2130.42
Notes:
C2: build-up of cold-formed steel (formed as I-shape) cross section
followed by its thickness (mm); F: ferrocement jacket; W-S: (With
web-stiffener) with longitudinal web-stiffeners; (2): The number indicates
the length of the composite column in (m).

Effect of Increasing the Thickness of CFS

Group 1 to Group 3 specimens was tested to investigate the effect of different thickness of CFS.
Fig. 3 shows a comparison between the ultimate loads, Pu, obtained experimentally using 2 mm
thick, 3 mm thick and 4 mm thick of CFS. It was found that CFS-ferrocement composite column
specimens with increased the thickness showed increase in capacity of ultimate load, Pu. The
ultimate load with 4 mm thick was recorded as the highest followed by 3 mm and 2 mm. The values
increased approximately from 10 % to 30%.The failure mode of columns are shown in Fig.4

(a)Group 1 (b) Group 2

 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 752-753 537

(c) Group 3
Fig. 3 Effect of increasing the thickness of CFS

(a) Group 1 (b) Group 2 (c) Group 3

Fig. 4 Failure mode of the column specimen groups

Conclusions
The experimental study of cold formed steel-ferrocement composite column (CFFCC) under
axial compression load is presented in this study. The main parameters studied of CFFCC columns
were, cold-formed thickness effects and influence of ferrocement jacket. Two cold formed steel
lipped C-sections oriented back to back were formed the I-steel column. Profiled ferrocement
jacket of 50 mm thickness was assembled around CFS column. The concrete jacket was designed
for concrete grade of C35 compressive strength. A total of nine full-scale composite columns
assembled with ferrocement jacket involved web-stiffener and one control column specimen were
tested. From this study the behaviour of CFFCC composite column in terms of the ultimate axial
capacity and ductility are summarized as follows
1. The strength capacity of build-up of lipped CFS C-channel column with the novel jacket with
web-stiffener improves about 178% greater than that of steel columns without ferrocement
jacket.
2. The highest ultimate load has been observed in Group 1 to Group 3 specimens with 4mm thick
of CFS with N-web cross-section. The ultimate load increased in average approximately from 10
% to 30% than 2mm and 3mm thicknesses of CFS with the same groups. The result is well
expected as the thickness of the section the higher the load capacity of the specimens.
538 Advanced Engineering and Technology

3. The ferrocement jacket and web-stiffener with full composed to CFS column provided sufficient
constraint to the CFS flange and eliminate CFS local buckling problem which is a characteristic
problem for CFS column.

References
[1] A.S. Saadon, Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of PVC Concrete composite Columns,
Ph.D. Thesis, University of Basrah, (2010).
[2] K.F. Sarsam, I.A. Al-Shaarbaf and M.S. Shuber, Behavior of Short Reinforced Porcelinite
Concrete Columns Under Concentric Loads, Eng. Technol. J. 27 (6) (2009) 1219-1234.
[3] W.W. Yu, Cold-Formed Steel Design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, (2000).
[4] B.C. Gourley, C. Tort, J.F. Hajjar and P.H. Schiller, A synopsis of studies of the monotonic and
cyclic behaviour of concrete filled steel tube beam-columns, Struct. Eng. Report No. ST-01-
4.Minneapolis, Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology, University
of Minnesota, 55455, (2001).
[5] B.W. Schafer, Distortional Buckling of Cold-Formed Steel Columns, Final Report to the
American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, D.C. (2000).
[6] K.P. Rathish, T. Oshima, Sh. Mikami and T. Yamazaki, Studies on RC and Ferrocement
Jacketed Columns Subjected to Simulated Seismic Loading, Asian J. Civil Eng. Building and
Housing, 2 (8) (2007) 215-255.
[7] A.H.M.M. Billah, Seismic performance evaluation of multi column bridge bent retrofitted with
different alternative, Okanagan, The University of British Columbia, Master Appl. Sci. (2011)
176.
[8] S. EFNARC, Guidelines for self-compacting concrete. London, UK: Association House, (2002)
32-34.
[9] A. ANSI, AISC 360--05, Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, American Institute of
Steel Construction, Inc, Chicago, IL, (2005).
 Advanced Engineering and Technology
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.752-753

Behaviour of Composite Column of Cold-Formed Steel Section with Web-Stiffener Integrated with
Ferrocement Jacket
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.752-753.533

View publication stats