ThecalculationofultimatebearingcapacityisasignificantissueinthedesignofConcreteFilledSteelTubular(CFST)archbridges.Basedonthespacebeamtheory,thispaperprovidesacalculationmethodfordeterminingtheultimatestrengthofCFSTstructures.Theaccuracyofthismethodandtheapplicabilityofthestress-strainrelationshipswerevalidatedbycomparingdifferentexistingconfinedconcreteuniaxialconstitutiverelationshipsandexperimentalresults.Comparisonoftheseresultsindicatedthatthismethodusingtheconfinedconcreteuniaxialstress-strainrelationshipscanbeusedtocalculatetheultimatestrengthandCFSTbehaviorwithsatisfactoryaccuracy.Thecalculationresultsarestableandseldomaffectedbyconcreteconstitutiverelationships.Themethodisthereforevaluableinthepracticeofengineeringdesign.Finally,theultimatestrengthofanarchbridgewithspanof330mwasinvestigatedbytheproposedmethodandthenonlinearbehaviorwasdiscussed.
