• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2019

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is a type of ultra-high strength concrete that has a relatively high brittleness. However, its ductility can be improved by confinement, and the use of RPC in composite RPC filled steel tube columns has become an important subject of research in recent years. This paper aims to present an experimental study of axial capacity calculation of RPC filled circular steel tube columns. Twenty short columns under axial compression were tested and information on their failure patterns, deformation performance, confinement mechanism and load capacity were presented. The effects of load conditions, diameter-thickness ratio and compressive strength of RPC on the axial behavior were further discussed. The experimental results show that: (1) specimens display drum-shaped failure or shear failure respectively with different confinement coefficients, and the load capacity of most specimens increases after the peak load; (2) the steel tube only provides lateral confinement in the elastic-plastic stage for fully loaded specimens, while the confinement effect from steel tube initials at the set of loading for partially loaded specimens; (3) confinement increases the load capacity of specimens by 3% to 38%, and this increase is more pronounced as the confinement coefficient becomes larger; (4) the residual capacity-to-ultimate capacity ratio is larger than 0.75 for test specimens, thus identifying the composite columns have good ductility. The working mechanism and force model of the composite columns were analyzed, and based on the twin-shear unified strength theory, calculation methods of axial capacity for columns with two load conditions were established.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.345-360
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• 2022

In this paper, the impact on seismic performance of an economical effective technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete (RC) columns using high-strength steel strips under high axial compression ratios was presented. The experimental program included a series of cyclic loading tests on one nonretrofitted control specimen and three retrofitted specimens. The effects of the axial compression ratio and spacing of the steel strips on the cyclic behavior of the specimens were studied. Based on the test results, the failure modes, hysteretic characteristics, strength and stiffness degradation, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed in-depth. The analysis showed that the transverse confinement provided by the high-strength steel strips could effectively delay and restrain diagonal crack development and improve the failure mode, which was flexural-shear failure controlled by flexural failure with better ductility. The specimens retrofitted using high-strength steel strips showed more satisfactory seismic performance than the control specimen. The seismic performance and deformation capacity of the retrofitted RC columns increased with decreasing axial compression ratio and steel strip spacing. Based on the test results, a hysteretic model for RC columns that considers the transverse confinement of high-strength steel strips was then established. The hysteretic model showed good agreement with the experimental results, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed hysteretic model. Therefore, the aforementioned analysis can be used for the design of retrofitted RC columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.243-260
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• 2024

Thirteen self-compacting recycled concrete filled aluminium tubular (SCRCFAT) columns were tested under concentric compression loads. The effects of the replacement ratio of the recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and steel fibre (SF) reinforcement on the structural performance of the SCRCFAT columns were studied. A control specimen (C000) was cast with normal concrete without SF to be reference for comparison. Twelve columns were cast using RCA, six columns were cast using concrete incorporating 2% SF while the rest of columns were cast without SF. Failure mode, ductility, ultimate load capacity, axial deformation, ultimate strains, stress-strain response, and stiffness of the SCRCFAT columns were studied. The results showed that, the peak load of tested SCRCFAT columns incorporating 5-100 % RCA without SF reduced by 2.33-11.28 % compared to that of C000. Conversely, the peak load of tested SCRCFAT columns incorporating 5-100% RCA in addition to 2% SF increased by 21.1-40.25%, compared to C000. Consequently, the ultimate axial deformation (Δ) of column C100 (RCA=100% and SF 0%) increased by about 118.9 % compared to C000. The addition of 2% SF to the concrete mix decreased the axial deformation of SCRCFAT columns compared to those cast with 0% SF. Moreover, the stiffness of the columns cast without SF decreased as the RCA % increased. In contrast, the columns stiffness cast with 2% SF increased by 26.28-89.7 % over that of C000. Finally, a theoretical model was proposed to predict the ultimate loads tested SCRCFAT columns and the obtained theoretical results agreed well with the experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.431-444
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• 2021

T-shaped column is usually used as side column in buildings, which is one of the weak members in structural system. This paper presented a quasi-static cyclic loading experiment of six specimens of reinforced concrete (RC) T-shaped columns under compression-flexure-shear-torsion combined loadings to investigate the effect in the ratio of torsion to moment (T/M) and axial compression ratio (n) and height-thickness ratio of flange plate (φ) on their seismic performance. Based on the test results, the failure characteristics, hysteretic curves, ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness degradation and strength degradation were analyzed. The results show that the failure characteristics of RC T-shaped columns mainly depend on the ratio of torsion to moment, which can be divided into bending failure, bending-torsion failure and shear-torsion failure. With the increase of T/M ratio, the torsion ductility coefficient increased, and in a suitable range, the torsion and horizontal displacement ductility coefficient of RC T-shaped columns could be effectively improved with the increase of axial compression ratio and the decrease of height-thickness ratio of flange plate. Besides, the energy dissipation capacity of the specimens mainly depended on the bending and shear energy dissipation capacity. On the other hand, the increase of axial compression ratio and the ratio of torsion to moment could accelerate the torsional and bending stiffness degradation of RC T-shaped columns. Moreover, the degradation coefficient of torsion strength was between 0.80 and 0.98, and that of bending strength was between 0.75 and 1.00.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2023

This experimental study investigates the effectiveness of applying carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) jackets for the retrofit of short reinforced concrete (RC) columns with inadequate transverse reinforcement and stirrup spacing to longitudinal rebar diameter equal to 12. RC columns scaled at 1/3, with round and square section, were subjected to axial compression up to failure. A damage scale is introduced for the assessment of the damage severity, which focusses on the extent of buckling of the longitudinal rebars. The damaged specimens were subsequently repaired with unidirectional CFRP jackets without any treatment of the buckled reinforcing bars and were finally re-tested to failure. Test results indicate that CFRP jackets may be effectively applied to rehabilitate RC columns (a) with inadequate transverse reinforcement constructed according to older practices so as to meet modern code requirements, and (b) with moderately buckled bars without the need of previously repairing the reinforcement bars, an application technique which may considerably facilitate the retrofit of earthquake damaged RC columns. Factors for the estimation of the reduced mechanical properties of the repaired specimens compared to the respective values for intact CFRP-jacketed specimens, in relation to the level of damage prior to retrofit, are proposed both for the compressive strength and the average modulus of elasticity. It was determined that the compressive strength of the retrofitted CFRP-jacketed columns is reduced by 90% to 65%, while the average modulus of elasticity is lower by 60% to 25% in respect to similar undamaged columns jacketed with the same layers of CFRP.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1483-1496
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• 2018

Negligible research has been conducted to date on how to analyse weakened columns, thus safety risks are still involved when structures are weakened prior to demolition. There are various methods available for demolishing steel structures. One of the most effective methods that has been developed involves pre-cutting steel columns at a certain height, so that the least effort can be used to collapse the structure by means of pulling out some of the columns. This paper presents (a) an experimental setup developed to test the capacity of axially loaded weakened columns, which is used to (b) validate a finite element (FE) model. The two pre-cuts that are presented in this paper are (1) the double window cut and (2) the triangular window cut, which are both commonly used in industry. A column weakened with a double window cut or triangular window cut reduces the axial load capacity by up to 50 and 40%, respectively. The FE models developed predict the axial failure load of weakened columns for a double window cut and triangular window cut are generally within an accuracy of less than 8 and 10%, respectively. It is shown at higher slendernesses the influence of column cuts is less than would be intuitively expected because global buckling becomes dominant.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.191-199
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• 2021

In seismic design, hollow section concrete columns offer advantages by reducing the weight and seismic mass compared to concrete section RC bridge columns. However, the flexure-shear behavior and spirals strain of hollow section concrete columns are not well-understood. Octagonal RC bridge columns of a small-scale model were tested under cyclic lateral load with constant axial load. The volumetric ratio of the transverse spiral hoop of all specimens is 0.00206. The test results showed that the structural performance of the hollow specimen, such as the initial crack pattern, initial stiffness, and diagonal crack pattern, was comparable to that of the solid specimen. However, the lateral strength and ultimate displacement of the hollow specimen noticeably decreased after the drift ratio of 3%. The columns showed flexure-shear failure at the final stage. Analytical and experimental investigations are presented in this study to understand a correlation confinement steel ratio with neutral axis and a correlation between the strain of spirals and the shear resistance capacity of steel in hollow and solid section concrete columns. Furthermore, shear strength components (V_c, V_s·, V_p) and concrete stress were investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.287-303
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• 2014

8 steel reinforced concrete (SRC) columns with the encased steel ratio of 13.12% and 15.04% respectively were tested under the test axial load ratio of 0.33-0.80 and the low-frequency cyclic lateral loading. The cross sectional area of composite columns was $500mm{\times}500mm$. The mechanical properties, failure modes and deformabilities were studied. All the specimens produced flexure failure subject to combined axial force, bending moment and shear. Force-displacement hysteretic curves, strain curves of encased steels and rebars were obtained. The interaction behavior of encased steel and concrete were verified. The hysteretic curves of columns were plump in shapes. Hysteresis loops were almost coincident under the same levels of lateral loading, and bearing capacities did not change much, which indicated that the columns had good energy-dissipation performance and seismic capacity. Based on the equilibrium equation, the suggested practical calculation method could accurately predict the flexural strength of SRC columns with cross-shaped section encased steel. The obtained M-N curves of SRC columns can be used as references for further studies.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.339-353
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• 2020

This study investigates the seismic performance of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) T-shaped columns under low cyclic loading tests. Based on test results of ten half-scale column specimens, failure patterns, hysteretic behavior, skeleton curves, ultimate strength, ductility, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity were analyzed. The main variables included loading angles, axial compression ratios and steel ratios. The test results show that the average values of the ductility factor and the equivalent viscous damping coefficient with respect to the failure of the columns were 5.23 and 0.373, respectively, reflecting good seismic performance. The ductility decreased and the initial stiffness increased as the axial compression ratio of the columns increased. The strength increased with increasing steel ratio, as expected. The columns displaced along the web had higher strength and initial stiffness, while the columns displaced along the flange had better ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Based on the test and analysis results, a formula is proposed to calculate the effective stiffness of SRC T-shaped columns.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2024

Under constant and cyclic axial compression, square composite short columns reinforced with Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) added with scrap rubber infilled inside steel tubes and with different types of concrete were cast and tested. The test is carried out to find the effectiveness of utilizing an aggregate manufactured from industrial waste and to address the problems associated with the need for alternative reinforcements along with waste management. The main testing parameters are the type of concrete, the effect of fiber inclusion, and the significance of rubber-infilled steel tubes. The failure modes of the columns and axial load-displacement curves of the steel tube-reinforced columns were all thoroughly investigated. According to the test results, all specimens failed due to compression failure with a longitudinal crack along the loading axis. The fiber-reinforced column specimens demonstrated improved ductility and energy absorption. In comparison to the normal-weight concrete columns, the lightweight concrete columns significantly improved the axial load-carrying capacity. The addition of basalt fiber to the columns significantly increased the yield stress and ultimate stress to 9.21%. The corresponding displacement at yield load and ultimate load was reduced to 10.36% and 28.79%, respectively. The precision of volumetric information regarding the obtained crack quantification, aggregates, and the fiber in concrete is studied in detail through image processing using MATLAB environment.