Non-linear Analysis of Slender High Strength Concrete Column

This article shows the influence of axial force eccentricity on high strength concrete columns design. The behavior of columns made of normal, middle and high strength concrete with slenderness values between 20 and 60 under an eccentric axial force has been studied. Structural analysis has been developed by means of software which considers both geometrical and mechanical non-linearity. The sequence of points defined by increasing values of axial force and bending moment produced by eccentricity has been represented on the cross-section interaction diagram until failure for each tested column. Then, diagrams depicting the relationship between failure axial force and column's slenderness have been drawn. The loss of bearing capacity of the member for normal and middle strength columns when compared with the bearing capacity of their cross-section is more noticeable as axial force eccentricity assumes higher values. However, this situation reverses for high strength columns with high slenderness values. On the basis of results obtained, the accuracy level for the moment magnifier method was checked. Despite the good concordance in most of the cases, it was verified that the moment magnifier method leads to excessively tight results for high strength concrete columns with high slenderness values. In these specific cases, a coefficient which amends the column rigidity is proposed so as to obtain safer values.

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