Slenderness limit for SSTT-confined HSC column

Abstract

Due to the confinement effects, Steel-Straps Tensioning Technique (SSTT) can significantly enhance the strength and ductility of high-strength concrete (HSC) members (Moghaddam et al. 2008). However, the enhancement especially in strength may result in slender member and more susceptible to instability (Jiang and Teng 2012a). This instability is particularly significant in HSC member as it inherent the brittle nature of the material (Galano et al. 2008). The current slenderness limit expression used in the design is mainly derived from the experiment and analysis results based on Normal strength concrete (NSC) column and therefore the direct application of these slenderness limit expressions to the HSC column is being questioned. Besides, a particular slenderness limit for the SSTT-confined HSC column which incorporated the pre-tensioned force and multilayers effects is not yet available. Hence, an analytical study was carried out in the view of developing a simple equation in order to determine the slenderness limit for HSC column confined with SSTT. Based on the analytical results, it was concluded that the existing slenderness limit expressions used in the design are appropriate for neither HSC columns nor SSTTconfined HSC columns. In this paper, a slenderness limit expression which has incorporated the SSTTconfinement effects is proposed. The proposed expression can also be applied to unconfined HSC columns.