Deformation Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Columns

An effective approach is presented for estimation of the ultimate deformation and load capacity of reinforced concrete columns based on principles of axial-shear-flexure interaction. Conventional cross-section analysis techniques are employed for modeling the flexure mechanism, and the simplified modified compression field theory is implemented for modeling the shear behavior of elements. Average centroidal strains and average concrete compression strains derived from the flexural model are implemented in the shear model and used to calculate shear deformation and concrete strength degradation. This approximate procedure can be easily implemented in a hand-calculation method in a few steps. The approach is employed for the estimation of the ultimate deformation of shear- and flexure-dominated reinforced concrete columns previously tested. The analytical results are compared with the experimental data and consistent, strong agreement is achieved.