Effect of cumulative seismic damage to steel tube-reinforced concrete composite columns

Abstract

The steel tube-reinforced concrete (ST-RC) composite column is a novel type of composite column, consisting of a steel tube embedded in reinforced concrete. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of cumulative damage on the seismic behavior of ST-RC columns through experimental testing. Six large-scale ST-RC column specimens were subjected to high axial forces and cyclic lateral loading. The specimens included two groups, where Group I had a higher amount of transverse reinforcement than Group II. The test results indicate that all specimens failed in a flexural mode, characterized by buckling and yielding of longitudinal rebars, failure of transverse rebars, compressive crushing of concrete, and steel tube buckling at the base of the columns. The number of loading cycles was found to have minimal effect on the strength capacity of the specimens. The number of loading cycles had limited effect on the deformation capacity for the Group I specimens, while an obvious effect on the deformation capacity for the Group II specimens was observed. The Group I specimen showed significantly larger deformation and energy dissipation capacities than the corresponding Group II specimen, for the case where the lateral cyclic loads were repeated ten cycles at each drift level. The ultimate displacement of the Group I specimen was 25% larger than that of the Group II counterpart, and the cumulative energy dissipated by the former was 2.8 times that of the latter. Based on the test results, recommendations are made for the amount of transverse reinforcement required in seismic design of ST-RC columns for ensuring adequate deformation capacity.