TSINGHUA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISSN 1007-0214 05/20 pp153-159

Volume 9, Number 2, April 2004

Predicting the Maximum Load of Reinforced-Concrete

Pipe Columns*

!‡ ,**
Paul Nibasumba, LIU Xila (ঞ๦ࣸ)

Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;

‡ Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China

Abstract: To simplify the calculation of the maximum load at which instability occurs for reinforced-concrete
pipe columns under eccentric compression, a method based on the transformed cross-sectional area of the
column and the concrete secant modulus of elasticity is proposed, consisting of an iterative process in which
a sequence of lateral deflections is at column mid-height. The method assumes the deflected shape of the
column as a half cosine wave. Analytical results were compared with experimental values obtained from 16
reinforced-concrete pipe columns. Using deflection at column mid-height recorded during the loading proc-
ess, a typical load-deflection curve can be plotted and used to describe column behavior. The experimental
results demonstrate that the failure of concrete columns is a process. The starting point is the cracking load
point, when cracks are initiated in the concrete of the tensile zone of the critical cross-section of specimens.
The maximum load point is the top of the failure process, and then the maximum bending moment occurs.
The first point represents instability while the second one corresponds to the strength failure of the columns.
The experimental results are close to the analytical values. The method is simple and can be used for stabil-
ity analysis of reinforced-concrete pipe columns.

Key words: maximum load; reinforced-concrete; pipe column

Introduction columns are classified into short and slender columns.

Reinforced concrete columns are very important struc-
tural members of buildings and bridges. Careful analy-
sis is required since the failure of columns can lead to a
catastrophic collapse of the whole structure supported
by them[1,2]. As compression members, column failure
could provide little visual warning and cause signifi-
cant economic and human losses when it occurs. Ac-
cording to their failure modes, reinforced-concrete
Received: 2002-11- 07
γ Supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council of the Educa-
tion Ministry and National Key Basic Research and Devel-
opment (973) Program of China (No. 2002CB412709)
γγ To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: xilaliu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn;
Tel: 86-10-62789839
Failure of short columns is initiated by material failure,
i. e., steel reinforcement yielding or concrete crushing.
The column capacity is equal to the cross-sectional ca-
pacity. On the other hand, slender columns are charac-
terized by failure being initiated by instability rather
than material failure[3-5]. However, further research
work should be conducted to develop a unique theory
for any reinforced-concrete columns either short or
slender. Previous studies on failure mechanism of re-
inforced-concrete columns have shown that the failure
of reinforced-concrete columns is not a certain point
but a process. The failure process can be described ei-
ther through moment-curvature curves or
load-deflection curves. The existing approaches for de-
sign and analysis of reinforced-concrete columns usu-
ally do not distinguish instability from strength failure.
 154
In strength methods, to account for the increase of load
eccentricity due to the increase of lateral deflection, the
initial load eccentricity is multiplied by a coefficient
K[6]. However, it should be proper to consider the real
load at which instability occurs and perform stability
and strength analyses separately.
During the design process of reinforced-concrete
columns, material economy must be taken into account
to limit their cost. Reinforced-concrete columns with
annular cross-sections, called reinforced-concrete pipe
columns, can provide cheaper materials together with
sufficient strength and ductility if properly designed.
Reinforced-concrete pipe columns have been inten-
sively used in Japan, China, U.S.A., and Russia. Stud-
ies on the failure process of reinforced-concrete pipe
columns show a clear difference between the stability
failure or instability and strength failure. The two
stages occur at the maximum load and maximum
Fig. 1 Properties of column specimens
2 Failure Process
Studies show that column failure is not at a certain
point; it is a progressive process starting from the con-
crete cracking in the tensile zone of the cross-section.
Cracking occurs when the concrete tensile stress is
equal to the concrete tensile strength. The correspond-
ing concrete strain in the tensile zone of the column
cross-section reaches the ultimate value given by the
following equation:
H ut 2 f t / Ec0 (1)
Tsinghua Science and Technology, April 2004, 9(2): 153̢159
bending moment. The maximum moment can be com-
puted by the methods of strength analysis but the limit
load should be calculated by considering column insta-
bility during the failure process.
1 Material and Geometric
Properties of Specimens
Sixteen reinforced-concrete pipe columns were tested
under a varying axial load P at end eccentricity e0.
Mid-height lateral deflections and strains in steel
reinforcement and concrete were recorded during the
loading process. Deflections due to the applied load
were measured and recorded. Strains in steel and
concrete were measured by strain gauges. The
measurements were performed in both load and
deflection control stages. Properties of column
specimens are shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1.
where f t is the concrete tensile strength; Ec0 is the ini-
tial modulus of elasticity of concrete. Further, the
compression concrete crushing and the buckling and
fracture of steel confinement are the final stages of the
failure process. As shown in Fig. 2, the load-deflection
curve drawn from the test results well describes the
failure process for given specimens. Characteristic
points, such as cracking load, yielding load point,
maximum load and maximum bending moment points,
can be defined. The yielding occurs as soon as the
strain in the tensile steel reinforcement attains the
 Paul Nibasumba et alġPredicting the Maximum Load of ĂĂ 155

Table 1 Properties of column specimens

Column D/mm× Reinforcement Out of straight line of
No. l/mm f cc /MPa Total area Es / (105× e / mm
type t/mm Amount 2
(cm ) fy / MPa MPa) a / mm 0 column c/mm

1 GZ2-1 300×71.4 4000 24.9 6‡16 12.06 325.7 2.025 20.5 151 1.5
2 GZ2-2 300×70.5 4000 24.9 6‡16 12.06 330.8 1.948 18.2 76.5 0
3 GZ2-3 300×67.8 4000 25.8 6‡16 12.06 323.2 1.958 18.7 300 12
4 GZ2-4 300×71.4 3995 25.8 6‡16 12.06 328.7 1.953 19.8 300 0
5 GZ2-5 300×59.1 4001 26.3 6‡16 12.06 337.2 1.995 16.8 200 2
6 GZ2-6 300×58.9 3998 26.3 6‡16 12.06 328.0 2.000 16.0 195 0
7 GZ2-7 300×72.9 4006 27.2 6‡18 15.27 400.7 1.997 16.4 199 0
8 GZ2-8 300×67.8 3994 27.2 6‡18 15.27 399.0 1.997 14.7 150 0
9 GZ2-9 300×65.0 4000 25.5 6‡14 9.24 416.0 1.983 18.6 200.5 0
10 GZ2-10 300×67.0 4000 25.5 6‡14 9.24 401.3 2.012 19.4 150 0
11 GZ2-11* 264.67×61.4 4000 20.3 6‡16 12.06 335.2 2.040 26.7 200 -2
12 GZ2-12* 268.41×61.4 5990 28.9 6‡16 12.06 320.0 2.010 26.9 150 0
13 GZ2-13 300×74.8 6000 24.7 6‡16 12.06 325.8 2.030 17.9 151.25 2
14 GZ2-14 300×68.0 6000 28.3 6‡16 12.06 325.2 1.970 18.9 75 0
15 GZ1-1 300×56.3 3990 37.5 6‡16 12.06 266.3 2.030 25.0 150 1.5
16 GZ1-2 300×53.2 4007 32.4 6‡16 12.06 283.7 1.943 27.0 76.5 0.5
* Pipe columns with the uneven distribution of steel reinforcement

yielding strain, Hy = fy / Es, where fy and Es are yielding

point and Young modulus. As shown in Table 2, some
of the tested column specimens exhibit yielding of ten-
sile reinforcement before or after the axial load reaches
the maximum value. If there is no column defect, the
different behavior can be due to whether we have the
case of large eccentricity characterized by a tension
failure or the small eccentricity case leading to com-
pression failure. As the load keeps increasing to the
maximum value, the columns continue deteriorating.
Concrete peeling off can be observed just after the ap- Fig. 2 Example of load-deflection curve and failure
process of an R.C. column
plied load has reached its limit value in these columns.
Table 2 Experimental results
At Pmax At Mmax Maximum
Tensile steel
Column Load at concrete Extreme com- Extreme tensile strain of
No. reinforcement
type cracking Pcr/kN Pmax/kN w/mm pressive strain strain of steel rein- P/kN w/mm concrete
(10-6H) forcement (10-6H) yielded at Pmax
(10-6H)
1 GZ2-1 100 418.0 34.45 ˉ2480 Yield 411 41.45 ˉ3200 Yes
2 GZ2-2 400 732.0 24.85 ˉ2480 1049 728 25.85 ˉ2840 No
3 GZ2-3 20 163.5 47.49 ˉ2750 Yield 163 50.49 ˉ3570 Yes
4 GZ2-4 27 172.0 53.41 ˉ2560 Yield 172 53.46 ˉ2660 Yes
5 GZ2-5 45 267.0 40.87 ˉ2770 Yield 263 54.87 ˉ3680 Yes
6 GZ2-6 60 288.0 46.95 ˉ2630 Yield 279 59.95 ˉ3700 Yes
7 GZ2-7 67 368.5 39.70 ˉ2420 Yield 365 47.70 ˉ2970 Yes
8 GZ2-8 60 504.0 32.73 ˉ3330 Yield 503 33.73 ˉ3275 Just yield
9 GZ2-9 50 261.5 51.20 ˉ2860 Yield 259 57.20 ˉ4640 Yes
10 GZ2-10 60 364.0 38.55 ˉ1890 Yield 361 46.55 ˉ3540 Yes
11 GZ2-11* 9.10 376.0 28.40 ˉ2285 Yield 371 33.40 ˉ3882 Yes
12 GZ2-12* 16.91 533.5 29.88 ˉ1800 Yield 533.5 29.88 ˉ2740 Yes
13 GZ2-13 85 311.0 57.68 ˉ1800 Yield 284.5 106.67 ˉ4440 Yes
14 GZ2-14 463 619.5 57.69 ˉ2677 1340 610 65.69 ˉ3200 No
15 GZ1-1 120 392.7 42.175 ˉ2710 Yield 391 46.175 ˉ3595 Yes
16 GZ1-2 876 946.0 25.775 ˉ2600 760 944 27.215 ˉ3500 No
* Pipe columns with uneven distribution of steel reinforcement
 156 Tsinghua Science and Technology, April 2004, 9(2): 153̢159

At this load, stability failure occurs. As shown in Fig. 2, 3.2 Approach

after the axial load reaches the limit, unloading starts.
Stability failure or instability occurs at the maximum
The bending moment is increasing and reaches the
or limit load. A method to compute the limit load is
maximum value in the unloading part of the
proposed based on the approach described in Ref. [7].
load-deflection curve. According to previous studies
The maximum load at which instability occurs in the
on the failure mechanism of reinforced-concrete col-
column under eccentric compression can be expressed
umns, the bending moment at the limit load is equal or
by a modified Euler formula, in which secant modulus
less than the maximum moment. That fact demon-
of elasticity of the concrete is used. For the analysis,
strates two different failure stages. At the first point,
elastic-perfectly plastic stress-strain relationships for
the stiffness defined by the ratio of the bending mo-
steel are adopted, while for concrete, Hognestad con-
ment to the curvature of the column cross-section is
stitutive relationships are used. The cross-sectional ar-
sensibly reduced, the point thus corresponds to the
eas of the column specimens are transformed into
failure due to instability. On the other hand, at the
equivalent concrete cross-sections, in which the con-
second point, the column cross-section has reached its
crete tensile strength is neglected. As shown in Fig. 3,
limit capacity and the bending moment starts to de-
the deflected shape of the column is assumed as a half
crease. Hence, the point of maximum bending moment
cosine wave:
represents a strength failure of the column specimen.
Sz
The measured maximum bending moment given by Eq. y ym cos (3)
L
(2) is usually close to the ultimate moment.
where the total deflection taking into account the load-
M max P(e  w) (2)
ing eccentricity is determined by
where e is the load eccentricity with respect to the cen- y ew (4)
troid of tension steel, including the initial loading ec-
ym is the maximum total deflection at the mid-height of
centricity with respect to the column axis “e0”, out of
the column; z is vertical; and L is the length of the co-
straightness of the column axisĀc” and the concrete
sine wave.
coverĀa”. w is the column mid-height deflection.
As soon as the limit capacity of the column cross-
section is reached, the compression concrete crushes.
The buckling and fracture of transverse steel
reinforcement immediately follow and the structure
finally collapses.

3 Computation of the Maximum Load

3.1 Basic assumptions

In the method, the following assumptions are made:

1) Strain distribution across any section is linear; Fig. 3 Computation model
2) The concrete tensile strength is neglected;
3) There is a perfect bond between concrete and The maximum external bending moment at the column
steel; mid-height is given by:
4) The shortening of a column under load is M e Pym (5)
negligible; By definition, the secant stiffness of a cross section
5) The deflected shape of a column is symmetrical may be expressed as
about its mid-height; Mi
6) The effect of the change of the moment of inertia Bsec (6)
M
on the stiffness reduction during the failure process is
from which the internal moment can be written as
assumed negligible compared with the change of the
M i M Bsec (7)
concrete secant modulus.
 Paul Nibasumba et alġPredicting the Maximum Load of ĂĂ 157

The secant concrete modulus of elasticity used to Sl

e ym cos (13)
compute the stiffness Bsec for the chosen constitutive 2L
model for concrete is determined as Ec V c / H c , in where
which Vc and Hc are the concrete stress and strain in the Sl
L (14)
compression zone. 2k
For the calculation of the geometric characteristics, The curvature at the column mid-depth and the maxi-
the cross-sectional areas of the column specimens are mum deflection are related as follows:
transformed into equivalent concrete cross-sections, in S2
M m ym 2 (15)
which the concrete tensile strength is neglected. As L
described in Ref. [8], in general, the geometric charac- By considering the curvature at the column mid-height
teristics of the transformed cross-section are calculated given by Eq. (15) and Formula (7), and equating the
as follows: expression of maximum internal moment to Formula
The area of the transformed cross-section section is (5), using Expressions (13) and (14), and performing
given by: some transformations based on the described
At A  (n  1)( As  Asc ) (8a) relationships, an expression to compute the maximum
Es load can be derived:
where n is the modular ratio.
Ec0 Bsec
P E (16)
If Es is the elastic modulus of steel reinforcement, l2
Ec0 is the initial concrete modulus of elasticity, which where
can be estimated as E 4k 2 and k arc cos(e /(e  w)) (17)
Ec0
103 (22  347.4 / f cu ) (8b) Based on the described method, each deflection wi
MPa corresponds to an axial force Pi.
The static moment with respect to the edge of the sec- The limit load point is characterized by the condition,
tion is given by dP / dw 0 (18)
S
St ( D3  d 3 )  (n  1)¦ Asi ysi (9) This condition corresponds to the peak load Pcalc on the
32
load-deflection curve.
The distance from the centroid of the transformed
For a given deflection at the peak and the calculated
cross-section to the edge is
stiffness Bsec from the material properties and by using
St
yt (10) the transformed cross-section of the column specimens,
At
the maximum load can be easily calculated.
S 2
where At ( D  d 2 )  (n  1)¦ Asi (11)
4 3.3 Proposed method
Considering that the change in stiffness is mainly due
At the neutral axis of the column cross-section, the
to the change of the secant modulus of elasticity rather
stress is equal to zero, hence
than the moment of inertia, the following moment
1 e x
expression of inertia of the transformed cross-section is P(  tot ) 0 (19)
At It
assumed:
S S Rearranging Eq. (19) leads to the following equation:
It ( D 4  d 4 )  [ D 2 ( yt  0.5D )2 
64 4 (12) f (M , x) I t  At etot x 0 (20)
d 2 ( yt  0.5d 2 )]  (n  1)¦ Asi ( yt  ysi )2 where I t and At are the moment of inertia and the area
where D is the diameter of the external diameter of the of the transformed column cross-section. The total load
cross-section; d is the inner diameter; and Asi is the eccentricity with respect to the neutral axis is
cross-sectional area of each steel bar. determined:
For the considered columns without end restraint in etot e  0.5D  x  w j (21)
the present work, according to the work of Broms et
Equation (20) can be used to determine the depth x of
al.[7], the load eccentricity can be expressed as
the neutral axis for a particular curvature value M of a
 158 Tsinghua Science and Technology, April 2004, 9(2): 153̢159

reinforced-concrete column[9]. The procedure for find- H cj M j xj (25)

ing the limit load of a reinforced-concrete column is e) The stress is determined based on Hognestad
summarized in the following steps: stress-strain relationship[7].
a) Choose an increasing sequence on wj, the value of f) The concrete secant modulus is computed as:
the lateral deflection. V cj
b) For each wj value, the corresponding value of the Ecj (26)
H cj
curvature is
S2 g) Compute the column stiffness
Mj (e  w j ) (22) Bj Ecj It (27)
L2
in which h) Compute the axial load by
Sl Bj
L (23) Pj Ej (28)
e l2
2arccos( )
e  wj where
c) The corresponding xj for the M j value can be ob- e 2
Ej 4(arc cos ) (29)
tained from Eq. (20) by iteration using the Newton- e  wj
Raphson method: Repeat Steps a) to h) until the maximum value of the
f (M j , x0j ) 2'x0 dP
0
xj xj  (24) axial load is found, i.e., the condition 0 is satisfied.
f (M j , x 0j  'x 0 )  f (M j , x 0j  'x 0 ) dw
To satisfy this condition, the axial load, Pcalc is cal-
where x 0j is the initial value of the neutral axis depth xj culated by Formula (28), in which the stiffness is B and
for each iteration, and 'x0 is a small change of the the factor E is calculated by Formula (28). The com-
neutral axis depth. putation results are summarized in Table 3.
d) The strain in concrete is calculated as follows:

Table 3 Computation results

No. Column type w/mm E B/(MN·m2) Ptest/kN Pcalc/kN Pcalc/Ptest

1 GZ2-1 36 1.579 123 3.768 167 418 371.9 0.890
2 GZ2-2 24 1.991 734 5.401 000 732 672.4 0.9180
3 GZ2-3 46 1.050 733 2.992 196 163.5 196.5 1.202
4 GZ2-4 56 1.292 878 2.570 140 172 208.2 1.210
5 GZ2-5 42 1.418 475 2.728 800 267 241.8 0.906
6 GZ2-6 46 1.578 182 2.699 142 288 266.5 0.925
7 GZ2-7 41 1.407 455 5.158 340 368.5 452.4 1.228
8 GZ2-8 34 1.526 173 5.053 693 504 483.5 0.959
9 GZ2-9 50 1.652 950 2.948 426 261.5 304.6 1.165
10 GZ2-10 39 1.710 915 3.204 844 364 342.7 0.941
11 GZ2-11 29 1.044 561 5.511 215 376 359.8 0.957
12 GZ2-12 31 1.411 168 11.817 900 533.5 464.8 0.871
13 GZ2-13 59 2.346 842 4.384 104 311 285.8 0.919
14 GZ2-14 56 3.695 786 5.466 551 619.5 561.2 0.906
15 GZ1-1 41 1.768 071 3.240 619 392.7 359.9 0.916
16 GZ1-2 27 2.173 584 6.471 664 946 876.1 0.926
Pcalc/Ptest Mean value 0.990
Pcalc/Ptest Standard deviation 0.033

4 Conclusions strength and ductility. In the present study, sixteen re-

inforced-concrete pipe columns were subjected to
Reinforced-concrete columns with annular cross-sec- monotonic and eccentrically applied loading. Studies
tions, called reinforced-concrete pipe columns can pro- conducted on concrete pipe columns have shown that
vide materials economy together with sufficient columns failure is first caused by instability independent
 Paul Nibasumba et alġPredicting the Maximum Load of ĂĂ
of whether the columns are short or slender. An itera-
tive method to compute the load at which instability
occurs is proposed. The limit load is determined based
on assumed half cosine wave for the deflected shape of
the column. Hognestad and linear-plastic stress-strain
relationships are used for concrete and steel reinforce-
ment. The solutions are derived based on the secant
modulus of concrete and the transformed
cross-sectional area. There is a clear difference be-
tween instability and strength failure and this should be
considered during the design and analysis of rein-
forced-concrete pipe columns at any stage. Analytical
results were compared with experimental values ob-
tained from 16 reinforced-concrete pipe columns. Us-
ing deflection at column mid-height recorded during
the loading process, a typical load-deflection curve can
be plotted and used to describe column behavior. The
experimental results demonstrate that the failure of
concrete columns is a process. The starting point is the
cracking load point, when cracks are initiated in the
concrete of the tensile zone of the critical cross-section
of specimens. The maximum load point is the top of
the failure process, and then the maximum bending
moment occurs. The first point represents instability
while the second one corresponds to the strength fail-
ure of the columns. The experimental results are close
to the analytical values. The method is simple and can
be used for stability analysis of reinforced-concrete
pipe columns.
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