Seismic Performance of Hollow-Core Composite Columns Under Cyclic Loading

This paper experimentally investigates the seismic behavior of a large-scale, hollow-core, fiber-reinforced, polymer-concrete-steel HC-FCS column under cyclic loading. The typical precast HC-FCS member consists of a concrete wall sandwiched between an outer fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube and an inner steel tube. The FRP tube provides continuous confinement for the concrete wall, along the height of the column. The column is inserted into the footing and temporarily supported; then, the footing is cast in place around the column. The seismic performance of the precast HC-FCS columns was assessed and compared with previous experimental work. The compared column had the same geometric properties; but the steel tube was 25% thicker than the column that was tested in this study. This paper revealed that these HC-FCS column assemblies were deemed satisfactory by developing the whole performance of such columns and using that performance to provide excellent ductility with inelastic deformation capacity by alleviating the damage at high lateral drifts.