Nominal axial and flexural strengths of high-strength concrete columns

Abstract

The ACI building code is allowing for higher strength reinforcement and concrete compressive strengths. The nominal strength of high-strength concrete columns is over predicted by the current ACI 318 rectangular stress block and is increasingly unconservative as higher strength materials are used. Calibration of a rectangular stress block to address this condition leads to increased computational complexity. A triangular stress block, derived from the general shape of the stressstrain curve for high-strength concrete, provides a superior solution. The nominal flexural and axial strengths of 150 highstrength concrete columns tests are calculated using the proposed stress distribution and compared with the predicted strength using various design codes and proposals of other researchers. The proposed triangular stress model provides similar level of accuracy and conservativeness and is easily incorporated into current codes.