Prediction of Lateral Load Displacement Curves for Reinforced Concrete Short Columns Failed in Shear

Abstract

Short columns in buildings are generally the members with high stiffness and governed by brittle shear failure. Therefore, lateral load displacement curves for short columns have significant influence on the seismic assessment. In this study, a trilinear relationship is proposed to simulate the seismic behavior of short columns failed in shear with the height-to-depth ratio of less than 2. The turning points of the proposed curve are defined as shear cracking, shear strength and collapse point, and straight lines connecting these points. Shear cracking is an apparent turning point in stiffness from shear cracking of concrete to reaching the shear strength of the short column. As cracks propagate, concrete struts are formed in the cracks and the crushing strength of the struts is subsequently reached. The proposed trilinear relationship of short columns is based on these observations from experimental results and can greatly simplify the analytical model. At last, a comparison with experimental results to verify and to check the applicability of the proposed model is reported.