EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE TIME-DEPENDENTBEHAVIOR OF SHORT STEEL-REINFORCED CONCRETE COLUMNS UNDER SUSTAINED AXIAL LOADING

Steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) columns have been widely used over the past few decades. However, very limited research has been conducted on the time-dependent behavior of these columns caused by creep and shrinkage under sustained loadings. This paper provides an experimental study on the long-term behavior of short SRC columns under sustained axial loadings and their ultimate axial bearing capacity. Long-term axial deformation due to shrinkage and creep of the concrete were recorded. Based on test results, time-dependent analysis of the SRC columns under sustained axial loadings using the age-adjusted effective modulus method was proved to be effective by employing the ACI 209R-92 model for the prediction of shrinkage and the CEB-FIP90 model for creep. The ultimate strength of the columns after long-term loading was also determined and results showed that the axial sustained load had no significant effect upon the axial compressive strength of SRC columns.