• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.299-302
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• 2005

This study deals with the quasi-static tests on steel reinforced concrete composite columns with single embedded steel or multiple members. For the design of bridge piers, the composite section needs to have low steel ratio for cost savings because the dimension of the pier section is usually large. There is lack of design guidelines for these composite columns with low steel ratio, but the design provisions for the normal reinforced concrete column can be used for the design because of the low steel ratio. It is necessary to provide the design provisions in terms of the strength limit state and seismic performance by the detail requirements on the longitudinal steel and the transverse steel. The test parameters in this study were determined considering the current design provisions on RC columns. Through the quasi-static tests, the seismic performance of the composite columns were discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.157-168
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• 2001

In this paper, experimental investigation into the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns tested under large lateral displacement with four different types of loading arrangements is presented. Each loading arrangement has a different system for controlling the consistency of the loading condition. One of the loading arrangements used three units of link mechanism to control the parallelism of the top and bottom stub of column during testing, and the remaining employed eight hydraulic jacks for the same purpose. The loading systems condition used in this investigation were similar to the actual case in a moment-resisting frame where the tested column was displaced in a double curvature. Ten model column specimens, divided into four series were prepared. Two columns were tested monotonically until collapse, and unless failure took place at an earlier stage of loading, the remaining eight columns were tested under cyclic loading. Test results indicated that the proposed system to keep the top and bottom stubs parallel during testing performed well.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.1097-1109
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• 2015

A novel optimization approach for reinforced concrete (RC) biaxially loaded columns is proposed. Since there are several design constraints and influences, a new computation methodology using iterative analyses for several stages is proposed. In the proposed methodology random iterations are combined with music inspired metaheuristic algorithm called harmony search by modifying the classical rules of the employed algorithm for the problem. Differently from previous approaches, a detailed and practical optimum reinforcement design is done in addition to optimization of dimensions. The main objective of the optimization is the total material cost and the optimization is important for RC members since steel and concrete are very different materials in cost and properties. The methodology was applied for 12 cases of flexural moment combinations. Also, the optimum results are found by using 3 different axial forces for all cases. According to the results, the proposed method is effective to find a detailed optimum result with different number of bars and various sizes which can be only found by 2000 trial of an engineer. Thus, the cost economy is provided by using optimum bars with different sizes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1233-1250
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• 2015

The behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns made from high strength materials was investigated experimentally. Six high-strength concrete specimen columns (1:4 scale), which included three with high-strength transverse reinforcing bars and three with normal-strength transverse reinforcement, were tested under double curvature bending load. The effects of yielding strength and ratio of transverse reinforcement on the cracking patterns, hysteretic response, shear strength, ductility, strength reduction, energy dissipation and strain of reinforcement were studied. The test results indicated that all specimens failed in splitting failure, and specimens with high-strength transverse reinforcement exhibited better seismic performance than those with normal-strength transverse reinforcement. It also demonstrated that the strength of high-strength lateral reinforcing bars was fully utilized at the ultimate displacements. Shear strength formula of short concrete columns, which experienced a splitting failure, was proposed based on the Chinese concrete code. To enhance the applicability of the model, it was corroborated with 47 short concrete columns selected from the literature available. The results indicated that, the proposed method can give better predictions of shear strength for short columns that experienced a splitting failure than other shear strength models of ACI 318 and Chinese concrete codes.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.247-253
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• 2022

The columns of older reinforced concrete (RC) buildings generally have limited reinforcement details. Thus, they could be vulnerable to earthquake ground motions, leading to partial or complete building collapse. In this study, high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC) was applied to RC columns to improve their seismic behavior. Experimental tests were conducted with two full-sized specimens with limited reinforcement details, including short lap splices, while unidirectional loadings were applied to the specimens. The seismic behavior of RC columns was substantially improved by using HPFRCC.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.131-149
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• 2013

Various types of reinforcement splicing methods have been developed and implemented in reinforced concrete construction projects for achieving the continuity of reinforcements. Due to the complicated reinforcement arrangements and the difficulties in securing bar spacing, the traditional lap splicing method, which has been widely used in reinforced concrete constructions, often shows low constructability and difficulties in quality control. Also, lap spliced regions are likely to be over-reinforced, which may not be desirable in seismic design. On the other hand, mechanical splicing methods can offer simple and clear arrangements of reinforcement. In order to utilize the couplers for the ribbed-deformed bars, however, additional screw processing at the ends of reinforcing bars is typically required, which often lead to performance degradations of reinforced concrete members due to the lack of workmanship in screw processing or in adjusting the length of reinforcing bars. On the contrary, the use of screw-ribbed reinforcements can easily solve these issues on the mechanical splicing methods, because it does not require the screw process on the bar. In this study, the mechanical coupler suitable for the screw-ribbed reinforcements has been developed, in which any gap between the reinforcements and sleeve device can be removed by grouting high-flow inorganic mortar. This study presents the uniaxial tension tests on the screw-ribbed reinforcement with the mechanical sleeve devices and the cyclic loading tests on RC columns with the developed coupler. The test results show that the mechanical sleeve connection developed in this study has an excellent splicing performance, and that it is applicable to reinforced concrete columns with a proper confinement by hoop reinforcement.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2018

This paper deepens the finite element modeling (FEM) method to reproduce the compressive behavior of partially steel-jacketed (PSJ) RC columns by means of the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) Model available in ABAQUS software. Although the efficiency of the CDP model is widely proven for reinforced concrete columns at low confining pressure, when the confinement level becomes high the standard plasticity parameters may not be suitable to obtain reliable results. This paper deals with these limitations and presents an analytically based strategy to fix the parameters of the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) model. Focusing on a realistic prediction of load-bearing capacity of PSJ RC columns subjected to monotonic compressive loads, a new strain hardening/softening function is developed for confined concrete coupled with the evaluation of the dilation angle including effects of confinement. Moreover, a simplified efficient modeling approach is proposed to take into account also the response of the steel angle in compression. The prediction accuracy from the current model is compared with that of existing experimental data obtained from a wide range of mechanical confinement ratio.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.441-461
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• 2021

Reinforced concrete (RC) columns are crucial in building structures and they are of higher vulnerability to terrorist threat than any other structural elements. Thus it is of great interest and necessity to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the possible responses of RC columns when exposed to high intensive blast loads. The primary objective of this study is to derive analytical formulas to assess vulnerability of RC columns using an advanced numerical modelling approach. This investigation is necessary as the effect of blast loads would be minimal to the RC structure if the explosive charge is located at the safe standoff distance from the main columns in the building and therefore minimizes the chance of disastrous collapse of the RC columns. In the current research, finite element model is developed for RC columns using LS-DYNA program that includes a comprehensive discussion of the material models, element formulation, boundary condition and loading methods. Numerical model is validated to aid in the study of RC column testing against the explosion field test results. Residual capacity of RC column is selected as damage criteria. Intensive investigations using Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) methodology are then implemented to evaluate the influence of scaled distance, column dimension, concrete and steel reinforcement properties and axial load index on the vulnerability of RC columns. The generated empirical formulae can be used by the designers to predict a damage degree of new column design when consider explosive loads. With an extensive knowledge on the vulnerability assessment of RC structures under blast explosion, advancement to the convention design of structural elements can be achieved to improve the column survivability, while reducing the lethality of explosive attack and in turn providing a safer environment for the public.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.279-293
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• 2019

The overall seismic performance of existing pre 1960-70s reinforced concrete (RC) structures is significantly affected by the inadequate length of columns' lap-spliced reinforcement. Due to this crucial structural deficiency, the cyclic response is dominated by premature bond - slip failure, strength and stiffness degradation, poor energy dissipation capacity and low ductility. Recent earthquakes worldwide highlighted the importance of improving the load transfer mechanism between lap-spliced bars, while it was clearly demonstrated that the failure of lap splices may result in a devastating effect on structural integrity. Extensive experimental and analytical research was carried out herein, to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of strengthening techniques applied to RC columns with lap-spliced reinforcement and also accurately predict the columns' response during an earthquake. Ten large scale cantilever column subassemblages, representative of columns found in existing pre 1970s RC structures, were constructed and strengthened by steel or RC jacketing. The enhanced specimens were imposed to earthquake-type loading and their lateral response was evaluated with respect to the hysteresis of two original and two control subassemblages. The main variables examined were the lap splice length, the steel jacket width and the amount of additional confinement offered by the jackets. Moreover, an analytical formulation proposed by Tsonos (2007a, 2019) was modified appropriately and applied to the lap splice region, to calculate shear stress developed in the concrete and predict if yielding of reinforcement is achieved. The accuracy of the analytical method was checked against experimental results from both the literature and the experimental work included herein.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.246-249
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• 2006

This paper presents experimental studies on investigating the seismic retrofit performance of reinforced concrete rectangular columns with poor lap-splice details using GFRP wrapping. Six columns have been tested. The GFRP retrofitted columns with same 7.5 mm thickness have two section shapes, i.e., rectangular and elliptical sections. The GFRP height was changed from 450 mm to 900 mm. The performance of GFRP retrofitted columns which have different shapes and height are verified.