This paper presents a non-linear finite element model (FEM) used to predict the behaviour of slender concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) columns with elliptical hollow sections subjected to axial compression. The accuracy of the FEM was validated by comparing the numerical prediction against experimental observation of eighteen elliptical CFST columns which carefully chosen to represent typical sectional sizes and member slenderness. The adaptability to apply the current design rules provided in Eurocode 4 for circular and rectangular CFST columns to elliptical CFST columns were discussed. A parametric study is carried out with various section sizes, lengths and concrete strength in order to cover a wider range of member cross-sections and slenderness which is currently used in practices to examine the important structural behaviour and design parameters, such as column imperfection, non-dimension slenderness and buckling reduction factor, etc. It is concluded that the design rules given in Eurocode 4 for circular and rectangular CFST columns may be adopted to calculate the axial buckling load of elliptical CFST columns although using the imperfection of length/300 specified in the Eurocode 4 might be over-conservative for elliptical CFST columns with lower non-dimensional slenderness.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo da (não-)conformidade dos concretos estruturais produzidos no Brasil, bem como uma investigação da segurança de pilares curtos de concreto armado submetidos à compressão simples levando em conta a influência da (não-)conformidade da resistência do concreto. Esta investigação tem como base ensaios de resistência de mais de seis mil corpos-de-prova de diferentes localidades do Brasil. Estes ensaios mostram que parte significativa dos concretos atualmente produzidos no Brasil não atinge a resistência característica (fck) especificada em projeto. Como resultado, estes concretos deveriam ser considerados não-conformes e medidas de mitigação deveriam ser aplicadas. O trabalho investiga ainda o impacto da não-conformidade dos concretos produzidos no Brasil na confiabilidade de pilares curtos de concreto armado submetidos a compressão simples, quando medidas de reforço e recuperação não são adotadas. Para refletir o universo de condições de projeto, na análise de confiabilidade são consideradas quatro classes de resistência do concreto, quinze valores de razão de carregamento e três valores de taxa geométrica de armadura. O trabalho revela uma redução significativa da confiabilidade dos pilares curtos em função da não-conformidade dos concretos. Estes resultados reforçam a necessidade de um controle rigoroso no recebimento do concreto, bem como na fiscalização das medidas de mitigação no caso dos concretos não-conformes. / This paper presents a study of the strength (non-)compliance of structural concretes produced in Brazil, and an investigation of the safety of shortt reinforced concrete columns subjected to axial compression considering the influence of concrete strength (non-)compliance. The investigation is based on experimental results of over six thousand concrete samples from different parts of Brazil. Results show that a significant part of these concretes do not reach the characteristic strength specified in design. As a consequence, these concretes should be considered non-compliant, and mitigation measures should be adopted. The study also investigates the impact of concrete strength non-compliance on the reliability of short columns subject to axial compression, when mitigation measures are not adopted. In order to reflect different design conditions, four classes of concrete strength, fifteen load ratios and three reinforcement ratios are considered. The study reveals that concrete strength non-compliance significantly reduces the reliability of short columns. These results stress the necessity of a rigorous control of concrete deliveries, and the importance of a rigorous control of the mitigation actions, in case of concrete strength non-compliance.

In recent times, light gauge cold-formed steel sections have been used extensively in residential, industrial and commercial buildings as primary load bearing structural components. This is because cold-formed steel sections have a very high strength to weight ratio compared with thicker hot-rolled steel sections, and their manufacturing process is simple and cost-effective. However, these members are susceptible to various buckling modes including local and distortional buckling and their ultimate strength behaviour is governed by these buckling modes. Fire safety design of building structures has received greater attention in recent times due to continuing loss of properties and lives during fires. Hence, there is a need to fully evaluate the performance of light gauge cold-formed steel structures under fire conditions. Past fire research has focused heavily on heavier, hot-rolled steel members. The buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel members under fire conditions is not well understood. The buckling effects associated with thin steels are significant and have to be taken into account in fire safety design. Therefore, a research project based on extensive experimental and numerical studies was undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology to investigate the distortional buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions. As the first phase of this research program more than 115 tensile coupon tests of light gauge cold-formed steels including two steel grades and five thicknesses were conducted at elevated temperatures. Accurate mechanical properties including the yield strength, elasticity modulus and stress-strain curves were all determined at elevated temperatures since the deterioration of the mechanical properties is one of the major parameters in the structural design under fire conditions. An appropriate stress-strain model was also developed by considering the inelastic characteristics. The results obtained from the tensile coupon tests were then used to predict the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel compression members. In the second phase of this research more than 170 laboratory experiments were undertaken to investigate the distortional buckling behaviour of light gauge coldformed steel compression members at ambient and elevated temperatures. Two types of cross sections were selected with various thicknesses (nominal thicknesses are 0.6, 0.8, and 0.95 mm) and both low and high strength steels (G250 and G550 steels with minimum yield strengths of 250 and 550 MPa). The experiments were conducted at six different temperatures in the range of 20 to 800°C. A finite element model of the tested compression members was then developed and validated with the help of experimental results. The degradation of mechanical properties with increasing temperatures was included in finite element analyses. An extensive series of parametric analyses was undertaken using the validated finite element model to investigate the effect of all the influential parameters such as section geometry, steel thickness and grade, mechanical properties and temperature. The resulting large data base of ultimate loads of compression members subject to distortional buckling was then used to review the adequacy of the current design rules at ambient temperature. The current design rules were reasonably accurate in general, but in order to improve the accuracy further, this research has developed new design equations to determine the ultimate loads of compression members at ambient temperature. The developed equation was then simply modified by including the relevant mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. It was found that this simple modification based on reduced mechanical properties gave reasonable results, but not at higher temperatures. Therefore, they were further modified to obtain a more accurate design equation at elevated temperatures. The accuracy of new design rules was then verified by comparing their predictions with the results obtained from the parametric study. This thesis presents a description of the experimental and numerical studies undertaken in this research and the results including comparison with simply modified current design rules. It describes the laboratory experiments at ambient and elevated temperatures. It also describes the finite element models of cold-formed steel compression members developed in this research that included the appropriate mechanical properties, initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses. Finally, it presents the details of the new design equations proposed for the light gauge coldformed steel compression members subjected to distortional buckling effects at elevated temperatures.

Cold-formed steel members have been widely used in residential, industrial and commercial buildings as primary load bearing structural elements and non-load bearing structural elements (partitions) due to their advantages such as higher strength to weight ratio over the other structural materials such as hot-rolled steel, timber and concrete. Cold-formed steel members are often made from thin steel sheets and hence they are more susceptible to various buckling modes. Generally short columns are susceptible to local or distortional buckling while long columns to flexural or flexural-torsional buckling. Fire safety design of building structures is an essential requirement as fire events can cause loss of property and lives. Therefore it is essential to understand the fire performance of light gauge cold-formed steel structures under fire conditions. The buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel compression members under fire conditions is not well investigated yet and hence there is a lack of knowledge on the fire performance of cold-formed steel compression members. Current cold-formed steel design standards do not provide adequate design guidelines for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members. Therefore a research project based on extensive experimental and numerical studies was undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology to investigate the buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions. As the first phase of this research, a detailed review was undertaken on the mechanical properties of light gauge cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures and the most reliable predictive models for mechanical properties and stress-strain models based on detailed experimental investigations were identified. Their accuracy was verified experimentally by carrying out a series of tensile coupon tests at ambient and elevated temperatures. As the second phase of this research, local buckling behaviour was investigated based on the experimental and numerical investigations at ambient and elevated temperatures. First a series of 91 local buckling tests was carried out at ambient and elevated temperatures on lipped and unlipped channels made of G250-0.95, G550-0.95, G250-1.95 and G450-1.90 cold-formed steels. Suitable finite element models were then developed to simulate the experimental conditions. These models were converted to ideal finite element models to undertake detailed parametric study. Finally all the ultimate load capacity results for local buckling were compared with the available design methods based on AS/NZS 4600, BS 5950 Part 5, Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 and the direct strength method (DSM), and suitable recommendations were made for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling. As the third phase of this research, flexural-torsional buckling behaviour was investigated experimentally and numerically. Two series of 39 flexural-torsional buckling tests were undertaken at ambient and elevated temperatures. The first series consisted 2800 mm long columns of G550-0.95, G250-1.95 and G450-1.90 cold-formed steel lipped channel columns while the second series contained 1800 mm long lipped channel columns of the same steel thickness and strength grades. All the experimental tests were simulated using a suitable finite element model, and the same model was used in a detailed parametric study following validation. Based on the comparison of results from the experimental and parametric studies with the available design methods, suitable design recommendations were made. This thesis presents a detailed description of the experimental and numerical studies undertaken on the mechanical properties and the local and flexural-torsional bucking behaviour of cold-formed steel compression member at ambient and elevated temperatures. It also describes the currently available ambient temperature design methods and their accuracy when used for fire design with appropriately reduced mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Available fire design methods are also included and their accuracy in predicting the ultimate load capacity at elevated temperatures was investigated. This research has shown that the current ambient temperature design methods are capable of predicting the local and flexural-torsional buckling capacities of cold-formed steel compression members at elevated temperatures with the use of reduced mechanical properties. However, the elevated temperature design method in Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 is overly conservative and hence unsuitable, particularly in the case of flexural-torsional buckling at elevated temperatures.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo da (não-)conformidade dos concretos estruturais produzidos no Brasil, bem como uma investigação da segurança de pilares curtos de concreto armado submetidos à compressão simples levando em conta a influência da (não-)conformidade da resistência do concreto. Esta investigação tem como base ensaios de resistência de mais de seis mil corpos-de-prova de diferentes localidades do Brasil. Estes ensaios mostram que parte significativa dos concretos atualmente produzidos no Brasil não atinge a resistência característica (fck) especificada em projeto. Como resultado, estes concretos deveriam ser considerados não-conformes e medidas de mitigação deveriam ser aplicadas. O trabalho investiga ainda o impacto da não-conformidade dos concretos produzidos no Brasil na confiabilidade de pilares curtos de concreto armado submetidos a compressão simples, quando medidas de reforço e recuperação não são adotadas. Para refletir o universo de condições de projeto, na análise de confiabilidade são consideradas quatro classes de resistência do concreto, quinze valores de razão de carregamento e três valores de taxa geométrica de armadura. O trabalho revela uma redução significativa da confiabilidade dos pilares curtos em função da não-conformidade dos concretos. Estes resultados reforçam a necessidade de um controle rigoroso no recebimento do concreto, bem como na fiscalização das medidas de mitigação no caso dos concretos não-conformes. / This paper presents a study of the strength (non-)compliance of structural concretes produced in Brazil, and an investigation of the safety of shortt reinforced concrete columns subjected to axial compression considering the influence of concrete strength (non-)compliance. The investigation is based on experimental results of over six thousand concrete samples from different parts of Brazil. Results show that a significant part of these concretes do not reach the characteristic strength specified in design. As a consequence, these concretes should be considered non-compliant, and mitigation measures should be adopted. The study also investigates the impact of concrete strength non-compliance on the reliability of short columns subject to axial compression, when mitigation measures are not adopted. In order to reflect different design conditions, four classes of concrete strength, fifteen load ratios and three reinforcement ratios are considered. The study reveals that concrete strength non-compliance significantly reduces the reliability of short columns. These results stress the necessity of a rigorous control of concrete deliveries, and the importance of a rigorous control of the mitigation actions, in case of concrete strength non-compliance.

The importance of fire safety design has been realised due to the ever increasing loss of properties and lives caused by structural failures during fires. In recognition of the importance of fire safety design, extensive research has been undertaken in the field of fire safety of buildings and structures especially over the last couple of decades. In the same period, the development of fire safety engineering principles has brought significant reduction to the cost of fire protection. However the past fire research on steel structures has been limited to heavier, hot-rolled structural steel members and thus the structural behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel members under fire conditions is not well understood. Since cold-formed steel structures have been commonly used for numerous applications and their use has increased rapidly in the last decade, the fire safety of cold-formed steel structural members has become an important issue. The current design standards for steel structures have simply included a list of reduction factors for the yield strength and elasticity modulus of hot-rolled steels without any detailed design procedures. It is not known whether these reduction factors are applicable to the commonly used thin, high strength steels in Australia. Further, the local buckling effects dominate the structural behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel members. Therefore an extensive research program was undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology to investigate the local buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions. The first phase of this research program included 189 tensile coupon tests including three steel grades and six thicknesses to obtain the accurate yield strength and elasticity modulus values at elevated temperatures because the deterioration of the mechanical properties is the major parameter in the structural design under fire conditions. The results obtained from the tensile tests were used to predict the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel members. An appropriate stress-strain model was also developed by considering the inelastic mechanical characteristics. The second phase of this research was based on a series of more than 120 laboratory experiments and corresponding numerical analyses on cold-formed steel compression members to investigate the local bucking behaviour of the unstiffened flange elements, stiffened web elements and stiffened web and flange elements at elevated temperatures up to 800°C. The conventional effective design rules were first simply modified considering the reduced mechanical properties obtained from the tensile coupon tests and their adequacy was studied using the experimental and numerical results. It was found that the simply modified effective width design rules were adequate for low strength steel members and yet was not adequate for high strength cold-formed steel members due to the severe reduction of the ultimate strength in the post buckling strength range and the severe reduction ratio of the elasticity modulus to the yield strength at elevated temperatures. Due to the inadequacy of the current design rules, the theoretical, semi-empirical and empirical effective width design rules were developed to accurately predict the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling effects at elevated temperatures. The accuracy of these new design methods was verified by comparing their predictions with a variety of experimental and numerical results. This thesis presents the details of extensive experimental and numerical studies undertaken in this research program and the results including comparison with simply modified effective width design rules. It also describes the advanced finite element models of cold-formed steel compression members developed in this research including the appropriate mechanical properties, initial imperfections, residual stresses and other significant factors. Finally, it presents the details of the new design methods proposed for the cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling effects at elevated temperatures.

Mining operations produce a multiscale network of fractures in the coal seams. Permeability evolution in rocks is important for coal bed methane (CBM) and shale gas exploitation as well as for greenhouse gas storage. Therefore, this work presents laboratory tests and a coupled model using PFC3D and FLAC3D to simulate the stress induced permeability evolution in coal samples. Basic mechanical properties are determined via lab testing. The spatial distributions of different components inside the reconstructed samples produce a significant heterogeneity based on CT technique. A newly developed experimental system is employed to perform 3-dimensional loading and to measure the flow rate simultaneously. The evolution process is described by 5 distinct phases in terms of permeability and deformation. Triaxial tests are simulated with PFC3D using a novel flexible wall boundary method. Gas seepage simulations are performed with FLAC3D. Relations between hydraulic properties and fracture data are established. Permeability and volumetric strain show good nonlinear exponential relation after a newly introduced expansion point. Piecewise relations fit the whole process, the expansion point can be treated as critical point. The structural characteristics of the samples influence this relation before and after the expansion point significantly.