High-strength RC columns subjected to high-axial and increasing cyclic lateral loads

This experimental investigation was conducted to examine the behavior and response of high-strength material (HSM) reinforced concrete (RC) columns under combined high-axial and cyclic-increasing lateral loads. All the columns use high-strength concrete ($f_c{^{\prime}}$=100MPa) and high-yield strength steel ($f_y$=685MPa and $f_y$=785MPa) for both longitudinal and transverse reinforcements. A total of four full-scale HSM columns with amount of transverse reinforcement equal to 100% more than that required by earthquake resistant design provisions of ACI-318 were tested. The key differences among those four columns are the spacing and configuration of transverse reinforcements. Two different constant axial loads, i.e. 60% and 30% of column axial load capacity, were combined with cyclically-increasing lateral loads to impose reversed curvatures in the columns. Test results show that columns under 30% of axial load capacity behaved much more ductile and had higher lateral deformational capacity compared to columns under the 60% of axial load capacity. The columns using closer transverse reinforcement spacing have slightly higher ductility than columns with larger spacing.