Effect of hollow ratio and cross-section shape on the behavior of hollow SIFCON columns

Abstract

This paper looks at the effect of hollow ratio and cross-section shape on the behavior of hollow slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) columns and normal strength concrete (NSC) columns. The present study comprised casting and testing of two column specimens groups; SIFCON group and NSC group (reference group). Every group consists of six column specimens of which three are circular and the others are square. Each circular column has an identical square column with the same cross-section area. These six columns have different hollow ratios (β = 0, 25% and 50%) for SIFCON columns and (β = 0, 25% and 33%) for NSC columns. The fiber used in this study was straight micro steel fiber with a 6% fiber volume fraction. The test results proved that the SIFCON columns have an outstanding performance compared to the NSC columns in terms of load-carrying capacity, ductility, and energy absorption capacity. On the other hand, SIFCON columns have less stiffness than NSC columns. When the hollow ratio increases, the load-carrying capacity, ductility, and stiffness were reduced. The results also demonstrated that the performance of circular columns exceeded that of square columns for the same cross-sectional area.