Shaking Table Tests of Reinforced Concrete Columns under Horizontal and Vertical Loading

Abstract

Many columns, piers and towers used in civil engineering, on road construction, power engineering, off-shore engineering and other fields are made of high-strength concrete structural members of hollow circular cross-section with longitudinal and spiral reinforcement. In spite of the existence of numerical methods and design codes to evaluate the actual behaviour of those structures, it was decided to carry out an experimental programme to check their behaviour under severe dynamic conditions. Two identical columns (concrete strength 80Mpa, steel strength 500Mpa) were designed and built. This paper presents their tests at the LNEC shaking tables facility.