A parametric study: high performance double skin tubular column using rubberised concrete

Rubberised concrete is the new age construction material which can be effectively used in seismic prone regions due to its high ductility. Based on the experimental results of the co-authors on rubberised concrete filled double skin tubular (RuCFDST) columns with both outer and inner circular hollow steel (CHS) tubes, finite element (FE) models were developed in this study. The proposed methodology is validated by generating axial load-shortening curves and ultimate strength values, and a good agreement is shown with the experimental results. A detail parametric study was carried out on thirty nine finite element models to examine the effects of outer tube diameter to thickness ratio, outer tube yield strength, hollow section ratio, length to diameter ratio and outer tube to inner tube thickness ratio of columns with 0%, 15% and 30% rubber contents. The rubberised concrete specimens showed an improvement in the axial displacement at peak load and they were more ductile in the post-peak region compared to those with normal concrete. After a comprehensive parametric investigation, this study summarized that RuCFDST columns can be considered as high performance structural columns for critical infrastructure applications in seismic prone areas and they can be specifically optimised for their ductile characteristics.