Types of Concrete Columns

Concrete Columns:

Concrete is good at resisting compression but poor in resisting tension. So, it might make sense that concrete would be the material of choice for columns. It is true that concrete IS used for compression members such as columns, piers, bearing walls and pedestals. Members under pure compression could then (theoretically) be unreinforced. These members are often subject to additional forces such as moment that would put some tensile forces into the member and would thus necessitate the addition of tension reinforcement.

Most columns have combined compression and bending. They are essentially a beam-column. The compression capacity of a reinforced column is reduced by the bending stresses on the column and viceversa.

A graph of the axial load capacity of a column vs. the moment capacity of a typical column is shown below:

Types of Concrete Columns:

There are two types of reinforced concrete columns tied and spiral and refer to the type of confining bars used to contain the interior core of concrete. It has been shown that unconfined concrete core will carry MUCH LESS load than a confined core as shown below:

A confined concrete core will carry substantially more load and will NOT explode outward like the unconfined concrete section will

Tied Column:
A Tied concrete column is one in which individual rebar ties are used to wrap completely around the vertical bars to confine the interior core. These ties are usually #3 or #4 bars spaced per ACI requirements: Least column dimension Tie Spacing = smaller of 48 x Tie Bar Dia.
16 x Vert. Bar Dia.

Additionally, the ACI dictates that there must be a minimum of 4 vertical bars having a minimum area of 1% of the column cross-sectional area and a maximum of 8% of the column cross-sectional area. From a constructability standpoint, 4% is the upper maximum that can be readily achieved because of rebar congestion. A typical tied concrete column looks like the following:

Spiral Column:
A spiral column has a single rebar wrapped around the vertical bars in a spiral and is stronger than a comparable tied column. It is more labor-intensive to build than a tied column. The ACI requires a minimum of 6 vertical bars, with the same minimum and maximum areas as a tied column.

Column Load Capacity:

Columns are rarely under pure axial compression only. Typically they experience moment in conjunction with axial loads and are under combined compressive and bending stresses. For this reason, the numeric calculations involved with determining the combined axial capacity and bending capacity are daunting.

Design aids are used to quickly analyze and design columns under combined axial load and bending. An example of a graphical design aid is shown below for the following: Tied concrete column Concrete fc = 4000 PSI Steel rebar grade = 60 KSI The design aid shown on the next page is based on the assumption that it is a short column, and slenderness effects need not be considered. A column not braced against sidesway is considered short if: Short column if kLr < 22 where: k = 1.0 for pinned-pinned end connection = 2.10 for flagpole type column L = maximum unbraced length, inches r = radius of gyration, inches = 0.30h where h = least column dimension for rect. cols. = 0.25D where D = column diameter for circular cols.

Column Interaction Diagram for tied square Short Column, fc = 4000 PSI, Grade 60 bars

Example 1
GIVEN: A square tied column using fc = 4000 PSI and Grade 60 bars has an applied axial service load = 120 kips and an applied service moment = 40 kip-feet. Assume the column is short. Use # 3 ties. REQUIRED: Design the column using the interaction diagram above. Step 1 Determine Load Eccentricity e:

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