Experimental study on the seismic behavior of ECE corroded reinforced concrete short pier columns

Abstract

• ECE tests conducted on RC short pier columns. • Experimental investigations on seismic behavior of corroded RC short pier columns. • An investigation in the influence of corrosion and axial load on bending, shear, and slip deformation components. • The prediction equations for the shear strength of corroded short piers were derived. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of corrosion and axial load on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) short pier columns. In this study, five RC columns were designed and fabricated, and the electrochemical chloride erosion (ECE) technique was used to simulate the corrosion process. The damage process, hysteresis behavior, stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity, and shear deformation were all considered while analyzing the seismic behavior of the test specimens. The experiments found showed that the axial load has a substantial impact on the deformation capacity of corroded RC short pier columns. With increasing corrosion level and axial load level, the energy dissipation capacity after the peak point decreases significantly, demonstrating the adverse coupling impact of corrosion damage and axial loads. Furthermore, the corrosion damage can weaken the shear capacity of the RC column and can increase the proportion of shear deformation to the total deformation. Based on the experimental results, a formula for determining the shear strength of the RC short pier column was suggested, accounting for corrosion damage and axial load level.