Seismic Behaviour of Synthetic-Frc Columns

Abstract

Inclusion of short discrete fibres into the concrete mixture can increase the compressive strength and ductility of normal-strength concrete (NSC) and high-strength concrete (HSC) column specimens under compressive loading as already has been shown by several studies. Concrete design codes ensure ductile behaviour of columns by setting a requirement for a minimum amount of transverse steel reinforcement. Therefore, the inclusion of discrete short fibres into the concrete mixture combined with a reduced amount of lateral reinforcement can be an alternative to the latter full amount required by the codes. This paper presents tests that were performed on large-scale fibre-reinforced NSC circular columns under cyclic flexure and constant axial load simulating earthquake loading. The aim of this test program is to examine the combined confinement effect of steel or synthetic fibres and the transverse steel reinforcement type (spirals or hoops) on the structural performance of RC columns. The results show that in terms of ductility and energy dissipation, the behaviour of the fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) specimens is improved compared to the nonfibrous ones. This behaviour is also predicted by the proposed confinement model which takes into account the mechanical and the geometrical properties of the concrete and the reinforcement as well as those of the fibres.