Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members have been widely used in industrial structures and high-rise residential buildings. The multi-cell composite L-shaped concrete-filled steel tubular (ML-CFST) cross-section, as an innovative, special-shaped structural arrangement, may solve the issue of normal CFST members protruding from walls and result in more usable interior space. Currently, no design rules are available for the application of ML-CFST members. One of the primary objectives of the present study is to develop recommendations in line with the unified theory to evaluate the bending moment resistance of ML-CFST beams. According to the unified theory, the bending moment resistance of an ML-CFST beam is related to the compressive strength (f_sc) and the flexural strength index (γ_m) of a composite section, in which the accuracy of γ_m and f_sc are affected by a confinement effect factor (ξ). Nevertheless, the original expression of ξ is not suitable for ML-CFST sections, since the appreciable effect of the irregular shape on confinement is neglected. Considering the cross-sectional geometry and boundary conditions of the cells, an equivalent shape factor to modify the confinement effect was proposed in this study through dividing the infill concrete into highly confined areas and less confined areas. An adequate formula to calculate the f_sc and an approximate expression of γ_m for the ML-CFST sections was then developed. Furthermore, four-point bending tests on eight specimens were carried out to investigate the flexural performance of the ML-CFST beams. Lastly, the proposed formulas were assessed against experimental and numerical results. The comparisons show that the proposed unified theory-based approach produced accurate and generally conservative results for the ML-CFST beams studied.

The multi-cell composite T-shaped concrete-filled steel tubular (MT-CFST) element is an innovative structural form. It has great potential for construction applications because of favorable advantages over traditional composite elements. The flexural strength of MT-CFST beams was investigated in this study to provide recommendations in line with existing design codes. First, formulations to evaluate the flexural strength of MT-CFST beams were derived based on the Unified Theory and plastic stress distribution method (PSDM). For the Unified Theory-based formula, a modified confinement effect factor that considers the shape of a cross-section was proposed. An experimental study on the flexural behavior of six MT-CFST beams as well as two hollow section counterparts was conducted. The influence of bending moment direction, concrete infill, wall thickness, and cross-section sizes were investigated. The accuracy of the proposed formulations was verified against the test results and numerical results from finite element modeling. The comparisons showed that the formula in line with the Unified Theory provided more accurate predictions with reasonable conservatism for the studied MT-CFST beams.