Principal Investigator: Yan Xiao, Ph.D., PE, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering
Co-Principal Investigator: James C. Anderson, Ph.D., Professor of Civil Engineering
Research Assistant: Tolga T. Yaprek , Graduate Research Assistant
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
In this NSF Sponsored project, experimental studies are underway to
investigate the behavior of steel and concrete
composite (SRC) structural columns subjected to constant axial load and
cyclic shear in double curvature. The emphasis is on the evaluation of
different shear resisting mechanisms and the influence of ductility, as
well as calibration and development of models to best assess contributions
of various shear resisting mechanisms. In the first testing series,
eight 60-70% scale short columns with a 356mm (14in.) square section and a
clear height to depth ratio of 4.0 are being tested . The experimental
parameters include the column section configurations with or without steel
shape encasement, concrete strength and axial load levels. The test
results to date indicate that the steel and concrete composite
columns have increased load carrying capacity and ductility than
conventional reinforced concrete columns.