Short and Long RC Columns with Internal WWM Reinforcement under Concentric and Eccentric Compression

Abstract

Recently, various types of steel meshes were used as additional internal reinforcement for improving the confinement, ductility, and strength of the reinforced concrete (RC) columns. In this experimental study, a welded wire mesh (WWM) layer was used as an internal reinforcement in addition to the traditional steel reinforcement (longitudinal bars and transverse ties) for short and long RC columns under concentric and eccentric compression. Thirty-six square RC columns with two slenderness ratios λ (height to width ratio) of 9 and 18 were tested under compression with eccentricity ratios e/t (eccentricity to section thickness ratio) of 0, 0.13, and 0.26. The reference columns were traditionally reinforced with longitudinal steel bars and transverse ties with a reference volumetric ratio ρr of 0.44%. The other columns comprised a WWM layer wrapped outside the ties whose volumetric ratio ranged from 0.22% to 0.44%. The results demonstrated that the columns reinforced with a WWM layer in addition to traditional reinforcement showed an improvement in ductility and strength compared to those reinforced with longitudinal bars and transverse ties only. A WWM layer increased the ultimate load of the columns comprising ρr ties by approximately 16% and 9% for short and long columns, respectively. These improvements were proportional to the ties volumetric ratio.