• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.193-202
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• 2008

Seismic design for bridge columns of the current Korea Highway Bridge Design Specifications which adopt full ductility design concept results in reinforcement congestion problems in construction site. It is due to large amount of confining steel is required even for small ductility demand which is a normal case in low and moderate seismicity regions like Korean peninsular. Therefore a new seismic design method based on limited ductility concept was proposed, which is called ductility demand based design method. It uses the new confining steel design equation considering ductility demand and aspect ratio of the column as well as material strength. The purpose of this study is to verify safety of the ductility demand based design method by the confining steel design equation. Eighty nine circular column test results are selected and investigated in terms of ductility factor and its safety. The safety factor for the circular column test results ranges between 1.11 and 3.98, and the average is 1.90. In this paper, the basic concept and detailed design procedure of the ductility demand based design method are also introduced as well as the investigation of the safety with respect to the major variables in confining steel design.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.705-714
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• 2012

Precast reinforced concrete bridge columns with hollow rectangular section were tested under cyclic lateral load with constant axial force to investigate its seismic performance. After all the precast column segments were erected, longitudinal reinforcement was inserted in the sheath prefabricated in the segments, which were then mortar grouted. Main variables of the test series were column aspect ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, amount of lateral reinforcement, and location of segment joints. The aspect ratios were 4.5 and 2.5, and the longitudinal steel ratios were 1.15% and 3.07%. The amount of lateral reinforcement were 95%, 55%, 50%, and 27% of the minimum amount for full ductility design requirements in the Korean Bridge Design Code. The locations of segment joints in plastic hinge region were 0.5 and 1.0 times of the section depth from the bottom column end. The test results of cracking and failure mode, axial-flexural strength, lateral load-displacement relationship, and displacement ductility are presented. Then, safety of the ductility demand based seismic design in the Korean Bridge Design Code is discussed. The column specimens showed larger ductility than expected, because buckling of longitudinal reinforcing bar was prevented due to confinement developed not only by transverse steel but also by sheath and infilling mortar.