ABSTRACT
Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular (CFST) sections are widely incorporated in buildings, and are currently surging in popularity for use in arch bridges. Due to the inherent complex nature of arches, it is paramount that the behaviour of CFST arches under all possible mechanical and environmental environments be thoroughly investigated. Comprehensive studies on the behaviour of CFST arches at elevated temperatures are limited. In this paper, the pre-buckling behaviour and in-plane stability boundaries of circular CFST arches under radial and non-uniform thermal loading are analysed numerically. Geometric and material non-linearities are considered. The numerical simulations show that combined mechanical and thermal loading adversely effects the symmetric buckling resistance of CFST arches. Additionally, temperature effects may induce material failure in the confining steel tube and concrete core. Parametric studies demonstrate the influence of arch included angle, steel tube thickness and yield strength, arch slenderness and concrete compressive strength on failure time and mode.
