Seismic ductility of very-high-strength-concrete short columns subject to combined axial loading and cyclic lateral loading

The seismic ductility of reinforced very-high-strength-concrete （VHSC） short columns was studied by combinatively applying axial load and low cyclic lateral load on specimens to simulate seismic impact. Twelve specimens with concrete compressive strength ranging from 95.6 MPa to 118.6 MPa and a shear-span ratio of 2.0 were tested for shear failure pattern and fear force-displacement hysteretic responses. Combinative application of axial load and low cyclic lateral load to VHSC short columns incurs shear failure. The displacement ductility is much smaller when the axial load ratio is larger; whereas a larger stirrup ratio is accompanied with a better displacement ductility. The relationship of displacement ductility factor,μ△, with stirrup characteristic value, λv, and test axial load ratio, nt, is μ△=（1＋8λv）/（0.33＋nt）. By this relationship and relevant codes for aseismatic design, the axial load ratio limits for aseismatic design of reinforced VHSC （C95 to C100） short columns for frame construction are respectively 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 for seismic classes Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ; corresponding minimum characteristic values of stirrups are calculated according to the required characteristic values of at least 1.273 times of experimental results. These data are very useful to aseismatic engineering.

Experimental research on behavior of 460 MPa high strength steel I-section columns under cyclic loading

To investigate the seismic behavior of I-section columns made of 460 MPa high strength steel （HSS）, six specimens were tested under constant axial load and cyclic horizontal load. The specimens were designed with different width-to-thickness ratios and loaded under different axial load ratios. For each specimen, the failure mode was observed and hysteretic curve was measured. Comparison of different specimens on hysteretic characteristic, energy dissipation capacity and deformation capacity were further investigated. Test results showed that the degradation of bearing capacity was due to local buckling of flange and web. Under the same axial load ratio, as width-to-thickness ratio increased, the deformation area of local buckling became smaller. And also, displacement level at both peak load and failure load became smaller. In addition, the full extent of hysteretic curve, energy dissipation capacity, ultimate story drift angle decreased, and capacity degradation occurred more rapidly with the increase of width-to-thickness ratio or axial load ratio. Based on the capacity of story drift angle, limiting values which shall not be exceeded are suggested respectively for flange and web plate of 460 MPa HSS I-section columns when used in SMFs and in IMFs in the case of axial load ratio no more than 0.2. Such values should be smaller when the axial load ratio increases.

Seismic performance of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete composite frame joints

To investigate the seismic performance of a composite frame comprised of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete （SRUHSC） columns and steel reinforced concrete （SRC） beams, six interior frame joint specimens were designed and tested under low cyclically lateral load. The effects of the axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio were studied on the characteristics of the frame joint performance including crack pattern, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, strength degradation and rigidity degradation. It was found that all joint specimens behaved in a ductile manner with flexural-shear failure in the joint core region while plastic hinges appeared at the beam ends. The ductility and energy absorption capacity of joints increased as the axial load ratio decreased and the volumetric stirIup ratio increased. The displacement ductility coefficient and equivalent damping coefficient of the joints fell between the corresponding coefficients of the steel reinforced concrete （SRC） frame joint and RC frame joint. The axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio have less influence on the strength degradation and more influence on the stiffness degradation. The stiffness of the joint degrades more significantly for a low volumetric stirrup ratio and high axial load ratio. The characteristics obtained from the SRUHSC composite frame joint specimens with better seismic performance may be a useful reference in future engineering applications.

Nonlinear fi nite element analysis of high-strength concrete columns and experimental verification

This paper describes a nonlinear finite element （FE） analysis of high strength concrete （HSC） columns, and verifies the results through laboratory experiments. First, a cyclically lateral loading test on nine cantilever column specimens of HSC is described and a numerical simulation is presented to verify the adopted FE models. Next, based on the FE model for specimen No.6, numerical simulations for 70 cases, in which different concrete strengths, stirrup ratios and axial load ratios are considered, are presented to explore the effect of these parameters on the behavior of the HSC columns, and to check the rationality of requirements for these columns specified in the China Code for Seismic Design of Buildings （GB 50011- 2001）. In addition, three cases with different stirrup strengths are analyzed to investigate their effect on the behavior of HSC columns. Finally, based on the numerical results some conclusions are presented.

Seismic Behavior of Steel Reinforced Ultra High Strength Concrete Column and Reinforced Concrete Beam Connection

To investigate the seismic behavior of connections composed of steel reinforced ultra high strength concrete (SRUHSC) column and reinforced concrete (RC) beam, six interior strong-column-weak-beam connection specimens were tested subjected to reversal cyclic load. Effects of applied axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio on ductility, energy dissipation capacity, strength degradation and rigidity degradation were discussed. It was found that all connection specimens failed in bending in a ductile manner with a beam plastic hinge. The ductility and energy dissipation capacity increased with the decrease of applied axial load ratio or increase of volumetric stirrup ratio. The displacement ductility coefficient and equivalent damping coefficient lay between those of steel reinforced ordinary concrete connection and those of reinforced concrete connection. The applied axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio had less influence on the strength degradation and more influence on the stiffness degradation. The stiffness degraded sharply with the decrease of volumetric stirrup ratio or increase of applied axial load ratio. The experimental results indicate that SRUHSC column and RC beam connection exhibited better seismic performance and can provide reference for engineering application.