An experimental study of the axial compression performance of two-part precast concrete columns

Abstract

Recycled lump concrete (RLC) made with demolished concrete lumps (DCLs) and fresh concrete (FC) provides a solution for effective waste concrete recycling. To promote the development of precast RLC structures, this study tested a new type of connection for precast concrete columns: connecting the upper and the lower halves of columns with bent longitudinal reinforcements and structural adhesive. In this work the behavior of precast RLC columns with the new connection was studied under axial compression. The axial compressive strength of nine two-part columns was tested. The effects of the degree of bending in the longitudinal reinforcement, the replacement ratio of DCLs and the stirrup spacing were investigated. Tests showed that: (1) the failure mode of precast concrete columns is different from that of cast-in-place columns; (2) when the strength of the waste concrete is close to that of the fresh material, there is no significant difference in the axial compression performance of either precast or cast-in-place columns; (3) the bent longitudinal reinforcement causes the axial load bearing capacity of precast concrete columns to be 4.2%–12.3% lower than that of a similar cast-in-place column; (4) reducing the stirrup spacing has little effect on a precast column’s axial load bearing capacity and ductility; (5) when using Chinese and American codes to predict the axial load bearing capacity of the column, the predicted value should be multiplied by a reduction factor.