Performance Analysis of Recycled and Natural Aggregate Concrete Column with Varying Design Parameters

An analytical approach is made to show the performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) columns with varying design parameters and to compare these with natural aggregate concrete (NAC) columns. The design parameters taken into consideration include concrete compressive strength, steel yield strength, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, and applied axial load. These factors were considered for two different aspect ratios which ensure flexural failure behaviour of column. A two-level factorial analysis was performed, and the columns were modelled and analysed using SeismoStruct, a finite element analysis software. The observed responses include: base shear capacity and displacement at first cracking; first yielding of steel; first crushing of concrete; and the ductility of the column. The pushover analysis was used to determine the performance of each column and statistical software R was used for the analysis of variance (ANOVA), which determines the percent contribution of each design parameter and their interactions on various performance criteria. The analysis shows that, RAC columns perform with improved ductility compared to NAC column.