Analytical Modeling for Reinforced Concrete Columns with Relaxed Section Details

In earthquake engineering, dynamic analyses are usually conducted by using a nonlinear analytical model of the entire building in order to identify the performance against earthquakes. At the same time, a large number of dynamic analyses are required to consider uncertainties on analytical models and ground motions. Therefore, it is necessary for the analytical model to be adequate, that is to say, the runtime should not be too long as the entire building is modeled to be in much detail, or the nonlinear model should not yield outputs very far from the actual ones by excluding important behaviors too much. The analytical model is usually developed based on experimental results, which have been already conducted for reinforced concrete columns with relaxed details. Therefore, this study aimed at making analytical models to be able to simulate the hysteretic behavior of the columns simply and easily. The analytical model utilizes a lumped hinge model to represent nonlinear moment-rotation hysteretic behavior of RC columns, which is feasible for nonlinear dynamic analyses usually conducted in earthquake engineering and for matching the analytical model to test results. For the analytical model, elements and material models provided by OpenSees are utilized. The analytical model can define the envelope curve, pinching, and unloading stiffness deterioration, but shortcoming of this model is not to be able to consider axial force-moment interaction directly and to simulate strength deterioration after post-capping completely. However, the analytical model can still represent test results well by considering that the goal of this study is to propose a general way to represent the hysteretic behavior of RC columns with relaxed details, not to provide parameters for a refined hysteretic model that can be just applied case by case.