Numerical analysis of RC columns under cyclic uniaxial and biaxial lateral load

Abstract

A numerical finite element study is conducted in this paper to examine structural behaviour of high strength RC columns exposed to biaxial and uniaxial lateral displacement histories with constant axial load. The numerical analysis of 24 models was made using ABAQUS / CAE. The comparison between numerical analysis and experimental results shows good agreement through validations. The considered parametric study involves determination of the longitudinal reinforcement ratio, total cross-sectional area of confinement steel (Ash), and uniaxial and biaxial cyclic shear load. Numerical analysis results show that an increase of longitudinal reinforcement for a uniaxial and biaxial lateral historic load will significantly increase maximum and ultimate load of columns, corresponding deflections, number of cycles at maximum and ultimate loads, and initial stiffness Ki, while the effect of transverse reinforcement is less pronounced. The columns load and deformation capacity decreases significantly with application of biaxial cyclic shear load, compared with uniaxial load. Also, this effect reduces with an increase in longitudinal reinforcement ratio (%ρl) and Ash.

Keywords

• columns
• high-strength concrete
• numerical analysis
• numerical simulation
• transverse historic load
• uniaxial and biaxial load