Behavior and strength of circular tube confined reinforced-concrete (CTRC) columns

An experimental investigation was conducted on the behavior of circular tube confined reinforced-concrete (CTRC) columns. Eighteen CTRC stub columns were tested under cyclic or monotonic axial compression. The results of the elastic–plastic analysis on the steel tubes indicate that the steel tube yields at the peak load point in the stub columns under axial compression. In addition, a design equation to calculate the axial load strength of CTRC columns is proposed. A total of five columns including one circular reinforced-concrete (CRC) column and four CTRC columns have been studied under combined axial compression and lateral cyclic load. The test results indicate that CTRC columns exhibit much higher flexural strength, displacement ductility and greater energy dissipation ability than CRC columns confined with hoop ties. The flexural strength increases as the axial load ratio or concrete compressive strength increases for CTRC columns, while the ductility is barely affected by the increase in axial load or concrete compressive strength. It is proposed that the moment strength of the cross section of CTRC columns can be calculated using a modified ACI code method.