Flexural-Shear Behavior of High-Strength Concrete Short Columns

This paper discusses the seismic performance of high-strength concrete columns. The research is a part of an ongoing comprehensive experimental program to investigate seismic design methods of high-strength concrete structures. The first stage of the program involved testing of fifteen high-strength concrete stub columns under concentric axial compression. The concrete compressive strength was about 69 MPa (10,000 psi). In addition, a large database including eighty-six similar tests conducted by other researchers was constructed, and stress-strain behavior of high-strength concrete was investigated. Based on the analysis, a stress-strain relationship for high-strength concrete columns was proposed. Secondly, six 1/3-1/2 scale high-strength concrete short columns were tested under combined axial load and cyclic shear, with double curvature condition. The primary experimental parameters included axial load ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, and volumetric ratio of transverse reinforcement. The proposed stress-strain relationship was used in the analysis of the lateral force–displacement relationship for high-strength concrete columns. Moment-curvature analysis, based on proposed equivalent stress block approach, as well as plastic hinge mechanism, has been incorporated in this analytical tool. The analytical results agreed well with the primary load-deflection envelopes obtained from the tests.