THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)

Published online 1 June 2010 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/tal.610

Limited ductility design of reinforced concrete columns for tall

buildings in low to moderate seismicity regions

Johnny Ching Ming Ho*,

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

SUMMARY
Nonlinear moment-curvature analysis using stressstrain relationships of the constitutive materials and take
into account the stress path dependence of longitudinal steel was performed to study the structural param-
eters affecting the flexural ductility of high-strength reinforced concrete (HSRC) columns. From the analy-
sis, a theoretical equation for designing square-shaped limited ductility HSRC columns was proposed that
correlates the volumetric ratio of confining reinforcement within critical region to the cross-section core
area ratio, yield strengths of longitudinal and confining reinforcement, area ratio of longitudinal reinforce-
ment, concrete strength and compressive axial load level. The validity of the proposed theoretical equation
was verified by testing eight square-shaped columns with concrete cylinder strength varied from 50 to
96 MPa and longitudinal steel ratio from 0.9 to 6.1% that contained the proposed content of confining
reinforcement within the critical region of columns. Outside the critical region, the confining steel is
designed based on ultimate shear demand. The columns were tested under reversed cyclic inelastic displace-
ments and compressive axial load, whose magnitude was held constant throughout the test. From the test
results, it was observed that the ultimate curvature ductility factor obtained for these columns were about
10, which are considered to behave in a limited ductility manner. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.

1. INTRODUCTION

The mechanical properties and behaviour of high-strength concrete (HSC) are different from normal-
strength concrete (NSC). Because of its higher strength-to-weight ratio, it is particularly popular in
the columns construction of high-rise buildings. Apart from having higher strength, HSC also has
larger initial elastic modulus, shear strength and tensile strength (Logan et al., 2009). However, HSC
is generally more brittle than NSC. The larger elastic modulus of HSC results in less dilation of
concrete core during axial compression and thereby reducing confining performance of lateral rein-
forcement in columns (Mirmiran and Shahawy, 1997; Lu and Hsu, 2007). The situation is even worse
for high-strength reinforced concrete (HSRC) columns subjected to flexure and axial compression. It
was also reported experimentally (Li et al., 1991; Bayrak and Sheikh, 1998; Paultre et al., 2001; Ho
and Pam, 2003a, 2003b; Havaei et al., 2009; Zhou et al., 2009) and theoretically (Wu et al., 2004;
Elmenshawi and Brown, 2009; Lam et al., 2009a) that HSRC columns with very high concrete
strength were extremely brittle if they were not confined adequately. Furthermore, the confining
reinforcement provided to HSRC columns should be more than that provided to normal-strength
reinforced concrete (NSRC) columns for preserving the same level of ductility (Lam et al., 2009b).
It is evident from the above that the design of HSRC beams and columns is different from those of
NSRC. Accordingly, a complete review of the design of HSRC structural members based on perfor-
mance-based design (Moehle, 2006; Klemencic et al., 2007; Lew, 2007; Englekirk, 2008; Fry et al.,
2009; Goel et al., 2009; Yousuf and Bagchi, 2009) is necessary.

* Correspondence to: Johnny Ching Ming Ho, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

E-mail: johnny.ho@hku.hk

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 103

For structures located in seismic risk regions, the design of HSRC structures should consider
appropriate methods of dissipating the enormous energy induced by earthquake attack. This can be
generally achieved by installing dampers (Chung et al., 2009; Heo et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2009;
Marano and Greco, 2009), adopting base isolation design (Ribakov, 2009; Takewaki and Fujita, 2009;
Yamamoto et al., 2009) or by careful detailing of reinforcement such that plastic hinges could be
formed at designated location(s) to dissipate excessive energy through inelastic structural damage but
not collapse (Park, 2001). Comparing with the installation of dampers and adopting base isolation
method, the method of reinforcement detailing is less costly and is applicable to all types of structures.
In this method, the structural engineers should design the locations of plastic hinges to be formed
during the earthquake attack. The structural members on which the plastic hinges are formed should
possess adequate flexural ductility and/or deformability for energy dissipation under large inelastic
deformation. For RC structures subjected to flexure with or without axial load, it is commonly
accepted that the flexural ductility and/or deformability can be improved significantly by increasing
the confining pressure provided to the concrete core. The improved confining pressure could be
achieved by installing transverse steel with close spacing and/or in larger diameter (Park, 1982; Li
et al., 1991; Ho and Pam, 2003a, 2003b, Ho et al., 2009), confining the concrete member using circular
or rectangular hollow steel tube (Uy, 1998; Ellobody and Young, 2006; Bambach et al., 2008), using
external steel plate (Kim et al., 2008; Sabouri-Ghomi et al., 2008; Su et al., 2009) as well as wrap-
ping the concrete member by fibre reinforced polymer (Hong et al., 2008; Lam and Teng, 2009; Wu
and Wei, 2009). Amongst these methods, the first one of installing more confining reinforcement is
the simplest and most convenient measure in practical construction of tall building structures.
For HSRC frame structures located in high seismic risk regions, the columns are usually designed
to be fully ductile (Watson and Park, 1994; Bayrak and Sheikh, 1998; Paultre et al., 2001) such that
large amount of confining steel is provided in the critical regions for plastic hinge formation during
earthquake (Pam and Ho, 2009; Yan and Au, 2009). However, for regions of low to moderate seis-
micity, where structures could be subjected to reduced ductility demand (Tsang et al., 2009), the same
provision of fully ductile columns may lead to reinforcement congestion and increase in construction
cost (Pam and Ho, 2009; Lam et al., 2009b). Therefore, the amount of confining steel may be reduced
while maintaining a moderate level of flexural ductility. Up to now, for HSRC columns, very few
analyses have been performed on the complete moment-curvature curves of limited ductility columns
that extend well into the post-peak region and take into account stress-path dependence effect of
longitudinal steel (Pam et al., 2001; Ho et al., 2003). Much experimental research has been conducted
to investigate the flexural ductility performance of fully ductile columns (Park, 1982; Li et al., 1991;
Sheikh et al., 1994; Watson and Park, 1994; Bayrak and Sheikh, 1998; Paultre et al., 2001; Bae and
Bayrak, 2008). However, tests on the post-elastic flexural behaviour of limited ductility HSRC
columns are limited.
In this paper, an extensive parametric study based on nonlinear moment-curvature analysis has
been carried out to investigate the flexural ductility performance of limited ductility HSRC columns.
In the analysis, previously established stress-strain curves of confined and unconfined concrete were
adopted (Cusson and Paultre, 1995), whereas the author has also included the stress-path dependence
properties of steel reinforced during the softening phase of HSRC columns in the post-elastic stage
under large curvature. From the results obtained, a theoretical equation was proposed to correlate the
volumetric ratio of confinement steel to various structural parameters, such as gross to core section
area ratio, yield strengths of longitudinal and confinement steel, area ratio of longitudinal steel, con-
crete compressive strength and compressive axial load level. To verify the validity of the proposed
equation, the flexural ductility performance of HSRC columns containing confining steel according
to the proposed equation was investigated experimentally. Eight columns having concrete cylinder
strength from 50 to 96 MPa were tested under different axial load levels and large reversed cyclic
inelastic displacement excursions. From the test results, it was observed that the curvature ductility
factors achieved by these columns were about 10, which is considered adequate for the design of
limited ductility HSRC columns (Standards New Zealand, 2006).

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
104 J. C. M. HO

2. STRESSSTRAIN RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CONSTITUTIVE MATERIALS

2.1. Stressstrain curve of concrete

In this study, the concrete stress-strain curve developed by Cusson and Paultre (1995) was chosen for
the nonlinear moment-curvature analysis. The ratio of concrete stress and respective concrete strain
increase are expressed respectively as:

fcc fco = 1 + 2.1( fe fco )

0.7
(1)
cc = co + 0.21( fe fco ) 1.7
(2)

where fcc and fco are the maximum compressive strength of confined and unconfined concrete respec-
tively. co is the axial concrete strain corresponding to fco, and f is the effective confinement pressure
calculated by:

fe = ke fhcc Ash ( sc ) (3)

where ke is the confinement effectiveness coefficient defined by Mander et al. (1988), fhcc is the stress
in confinement steel at fcc, Ash and s are the cross sectional area and spacing of confinement steel
respectively and c is the side dimension of concrete core.
The entire confined concrete stress (f) and strain () relationship is expressed as follows:
Ascending branch
r ( cc )
f = fcc r
(4)
r 1 + ( cc )
Descending branch

(
f = fcc exp k1 ( cc ) 2
k
) (5)

The values of r, k1 and k2 are given by Cusson and Paulture (1995). To evaluate the value of fhcc in
Equation (3), an iterative process is required. To start with, the strain in confinement steel hcc is
evaluated as:

hcc = 0.5 cc [1 ( fe fcc )] (6)

First, the confinement steel is assumed yielded at the concrete peak stress. The respective values of
fe, fcc, cc and hcc can be calculated respectively from Equations (3); (1); (2) and (6) respectively. If
hcc is larger than steel yield strain, the confinement steel has yielded and fhcc = fys. Otherwise, hcc is
used to recalculate fe, fcc, cc and a new value of hcc until it converges to within 1%.
On the other hand, the stressstrain curve of the cover concrete, which is unconfined, adopts the
same relationships expressed in Equations (4) and (5), except that fcc and cc are replaced by fco and
co respectively.

2.2. Stressstrain curve of reinforcement

A linearly elastic-perfectly plastic with strain-hardening portion, which is symmetrical in both com-
pression and tension, is adopted for the stressstrain curve of steel in the nonlinear moment-curvature
analysis. The stressstrain curve is given by:

Es s if s < y

fs = fy if y s sh (7)

fsu + ( f y fsu )[( su s ) ( su sh )] if sh < s su
P

where fsu is the ultimate strength, su is the ultimate strain at fsu, and P is given by:

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 105

Table 1. Mechanical properties of steel reinforcement in column

specimens.

Stress (MPa)
Reinf. Yield fy Ultimate fsu sh su Es (GPa)
T12 531 648 0.021 0.102 203
T20 522 663 0.021 0.116 201
T32 525 646 0.020 0.095 203
R12 339 461 0.024 0.150 208

sh
P = 0.05Es su (8)
fsu f y

In this analysis, it is suggested to adopt fsu = 1.15fy, sh = 0.02 and su = 0.11 (Ho et al., 2005; Bai and
Au, 2009), which are reasonably close to the actually measured values as listed in Table 1.

3. NONLINEAR MOMENT-CURVATURE ANALYSIS

3.1. Assumptions and method of analysis

Five basic assumptions are made in the analysis: (a) Plane sections before bending remain plane after
bending; (b) the tensile strength of the concrete may be neglected; (c) there is no relative slip between
concrete and steel reinforcement; (d) the concrete core is confined while the concrete cover is uncon-
fined; and (e) The confining pressure provided to the concrete core by confinement is assumed to be
constant throughout the concrete compression zone. These assumptions are commonly accepted and
have been adopted by various researchers (Pam et al., 2001; Ho et al., 2003, 2005, 2009; Bai and Au,
2009; Lam et al., 2009a, 2009b). The moment-curvature behaviour of the column section is analysed
by applying prescribed curvatures to the column section incrementally starting from zero. At a pre-
scribed curvature, the stresses developed in the concrete and the steel are determined from the strain
profile across the section and their respective stress-strain curves. Then, the neutral axis depth and
resisting moment are evaluated from the axial and moment equilibrium conditions, respectively. The
above procedure is repeated until the curvature is large enough for the resisting moment to increase
to the peak and then decrease to 50% of the peak moment.
It was observed in the analysis that initially the neutral axis depth reduces with the curvature (Ho
et al., 2003). However, in the post-elastic range after reaching the peak moment, the neutral axis depth
increases rapidly and beyond a certain point, which depends on the axial load level in the column,
the tension steel strain starts to reduce causing strain reversal. The strain reversal reduces the steel
tensile stress and hence the tension steel becomes stress path dependent. The unloading path of the
steel is parallel to the initial elastic modulus until it reaches the residual plastic strain p at zero steel
stress.

3.2. Nonlinear moment-curvature curves of columns

Some of the selected moment-curvature curves analysed for a common column section dimensions
shown in Figure 1 are plotted in Figure 2. It is obvious that the peak moment and the post-peak branch
are significantly affected by concrete strength, axial load level and confining steel ratio. In Figure 2(a,
b), it is seen that the peak moment increases with increasing the concrete strength up to the axial load
level of 0.3, beyond which it decreases. The flexural ductility of columns is observed to decrease
considerably by increasing the concrete strength and compressive axial load level. On the contrary,
an increase in confinement reinforcement would always increase the flexural ductility.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
106 J. C. M. HO

400mm Section properties for parametric study:

fc = 50 100 MPa
fy = 460 MPa
fys = 250 or 460 MPa

400 mm
= 1% 6%
s = 1% 4%
Ag/Ac = 1.2 1.4
P/Ag fc = 0.1 0.7

Figure 1. Column section adopted for parametric study.

4. FLEXURAL DUCTILITY ANALYSIS

4.1. Ultimate curvature ductility factor

The flexural ductility is represented by the ultimate curvature ductility factor c:

c = u y (9)

where u and y are the ultimate and yield curvatures respectively (Watson and Park, 2004).
The ultimate curvature is the curvature at which the moment capacity has dropped to 80% of the
peak moment (Mp). The yield curvature is taken as the curvature extrapolated from 0.75 Mp until it
reaches Mp.

4.2. Parametric study

An extensive parametric study investigating the ductility of HSRC columns has been conducted using
the column section as shown in Figure 1. The concrete cylinder strength (fc) varied from 50100 MPa.
The longitudinal steel ratio () varied from 16%, confining steel ratio (s) from 14%, the core area
ratio (Ag/Ac) from 1.21.4 and the axial load level P/Agfc from 0.10.7. The longitudinal steel yield
strength is 460 MPa while that of transverse steel is either 250 or 460 MPa.

4.3. Results of analysis

The following equation is proposed to calculate the volumetric ratio of confining steel for limited
ductility HSRC columns:
0.9
Ag fy P fc
s = 1.02 0.2 0.16 f + 0.008
fc Ag fc
(10)
Ac ys

The detailing of the confinement steel provided according to Equation (10) shall have its ends bent
by at least 135 to form a 45 hook with a minimum continuation length of 6d from the tangent point,
where d is the diameter of transverse steel (Figure 3). It has been shown from previous experimental
study (Ho and Pam, 2003b) that 135 hooks within critical regions remain intact which provided
effective lateral restraint to delay the longitudinal steel from inelastic buckling. However, the same
study also showed that 90 hooks within column critical region were opened easily under large inelas-
tic column curvature. The validity of the proposed equation for designing limited ductility HSRC
columns will be verified by experiment.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 107

1000

fc = 80 MPa
800 fc = 100 MPa
fc = 120 MPa

Moment (kNm)
600

400

200

0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Curvature (rad/m)

(a) P/Ag fc = 0.3, s = 1% and = 3%

1000
P/Ag fc = 0.1
P/Ag fc = 0.3
800
P/Ag fc = 0.6
Moment (kNm)

600

400

200

0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Curvature (rad/m)
(b) fc = 100 MPa, s = 1% and = 3%

1000

800
Moment (kNm)

600

400
s = 1%
s = 2%
200
s = 3%

0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Curvature (rad/m)

(c) fc = 100 MPa, P/Ag fc = 0.3 and = 3%

Figure 2. Theoretical moment-curvature curves for some column sections.

5. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

Eight column specimens were fabricated and tested in a 6600 kN self-reaction steel-loading frame
under combined compressive axial load and cyclic inelastic displacement excursions. The concrete
compressive cylinder strength varied from 50 to 96 MPa, compressive axial load level from 0.1 to

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
108 J. C. M. HO

6d

45 hooks

Figure 3. Proposed bend details of stirrups with 45hooks.

Table 2. Section properties of column specimens.

Longitudinal Transverse steel within critical

steel region of column
Actual Average d s s s
Column fc (MPa) P/Ag fc Content (%) (mm) (mm) (%) (%)
NEW-60-06-61-S 50.0 0.61 8T32 6.1 T12 70 2.10 1.95
(R6) (100) (0.38)
NEW-60-06-61-C 56.1 0.59 8T32 6.1 T12 110 2.00 1.95
(R8) (210) (0.47)
NEW-100-03-24-S 83.3 0.32 8T20 2.4 T12 70 2.10 2.38
(R8) (100) (0.66)
NEW-100-03-24-C 96.4 0.38 8T20 2.4 T12 90 2.45 2.38
(R8) (150) (0.66)
NEW-80-01-09-S 77.8 0.12 8T12 0.9 R12 85 1.73 1.71
(R6) (100) (0.38)
NEW-80-03-24-C 80.6 0.31 8T20 2.4 T12 105 2.10 2.03
(R8) (150) (0.66)
NEW-100-03-61-C 94.7 0.39 8T32 6.1 T12 100 2.20 2.10
(R8) (100) (1.00)
NEW-100-06-61-C 85.0 0.65 8T32 6.1 T16 120 3.20 3.20
(R8) (100) (1.00)
Values in parenthesis are the confining steel provided outside the critical region. s is based on specified values
of material strengths and axial load level.

0.65, longitudinal steel ratio from 0.9 to 6.1%, the confining steel yield strength of 339 or 531 MPa.
The reversed cyclic bending moment and displacement were applied by bending the column end via
a horizontal rigid beam, which was cast monolithically with the column. Figure 4 shows a specimen
during the testing process. Table 1 summarizes the mechanical properties of steel reinforcement. Table
2 summarizes the details of the column test specimens.

5.1. Test specimens

Figure 4 shows a typical test specimen consisting of a column, a horizontal rigid beam and a top
flange. The cross-section dimensions of column are 325 325 mm, and the height is 1515 mm. It
represents a real column in an RC moment-resisting framed building between the contra-flexure and
the maximum bending moment points, which are located around the mid-height and at the face of the
beam-column joint respectively. The area ratio of longitudinal steel varied from 0.9 to 6.1%. The
confining steel content within critical region was calculated using Equation (10), while that outside
the critical region was designed to resist the ultimate shear force only. It should be noted that the
specified values of concrete strength, axial load level, and yield strengths of longitudinal and confining
steel (460 MPa for all longitudinal and confining steel except the confining steel of NEW-80-01-09-S,
which is 250 MPa) have been adopted to calculate the required ratio of confining steel, which are
listed in Table 2 as s. For testing purpose, a predetermined length of critical region was adopted for

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 109

horizontal
650 bolt hole for hinge attachment reaction R

flange
125 hinge
column
760

1515
actuator force

2100 1895
critical region 125
B 255
500 R
A A
rigid beam 325
2550 B applied axial load

bolt hole for actuator attachment

325 325 325

325

325

500

Section A-A Section A-A

(Units with suffix S) (Units with suffix C)

Section B-B

Note:
Clear cover to stirrups = 15 mm
All dimensions in mm

Figure 4. Perspective view and loading application of the test specimens.

each specimen (Pam and Ho, 2009), i.e. 650 mm for columns subjected to high axial load level (i.e.,
NEW-60-06-61-S, NEW-60-06-61-C and NEW-100-06-61-C); 500 mm for columns subjected to
moderate axial load level (i.e., NEW-100-03-24-S, NEW-100-03-24-C, NEW-80-03-24-C and NEW-
100-03-61-C); 325 mm for column subjected to low axial load level (i.e., NEW-80-01-09-S).
The horizontal rigid beam was designed to behave elastically throughout the test and provide fixed
support to one of the column ends, where the maximum moment occurred. The flange at the other
end of the column was designed sufficiently strong to resist the flexure and shear in order to facilitate
attachment of the hinge of the loading frame.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
110 J. C. M. HO

5.2. Instrumentation
Strain gauges were attached on both longitudinal and transverse steel to measure the bending and shear
or confining strains respectively. The locations of strain gauges are shown in Figure 5. Seven pairs of
Linear Variable Displacement Transducer (LVDTs) were installed on the extreme tension and com-
pression fibres of the column test specimen as shown in Figure 5. Among these LVDTs, the pair located
at 25 mm above the beam-column interface was used to obtain the maximum column curvature. One
LVDT (150 mm stroke) was installed at the column tip to measure column lateral deflections. A built-
in load cell was available in each of the MTS servo hydraulic actuators to measure the load applied.
An external load cell was installed on the hydraulic actuator that applied axial load to the column.

5.3. Test procedure

The first cycle was load-controlled, in which the column was loaded to subsequently 0.75 Mu and
0.75 Mu, where positive indicates clockwise direction and Mu is the theoretical column flexural
strength evaluated according to Eurocode 2 (ECS, 2004). The lateral displacements at the column tip

LVDT
(stroke = 150mm)

LVDTs for measuring

column maximum Critical region
curvature



A A

1 = 150, 2 = 100

3 = 250, 4 = 50
350 355 690 355 350

(a) LVDTs on rigid beam and column (b) Strain gauges on

main bar

column
325mm

325mm

6@150mm

Section A-A

(c) Strain gauges on confining steel 25mm
( location of strain gauges)

beam

(d) LVDTs on extreme face of column fibre

Figure 5. Details of instrumentation.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 111

were recorded as 1 and 2 respectively, where the nominal yield displacement y was determined
by Equation (11):

4 1 + 2
y = (11)
3 2

The subsequent cycles are displacement-controlled. In the second cycle, the lateral displacement at
the column tip were increased to + y and y to reach = +1 and 1 respectively, where is the
nominal displacement ductility factor defined as

= y (12)

In Equation (12), = measured lateral displacement at the column tip. Starting from the third cycle
when = 2, the column was subjected to two full cycles. At the completion of every two cycles,
was increased by one provided that the strength degradation was not too excessive. The process is
repeated until the measured moment capacity was smaller than 80% of the maximum measured flex-
ural capacity.

5.4. Test observations

During the test, it was found that no flexural crack formed in the first load-controlled elastic cycle
for all column specimens except for NEW-80-01-09-S. The first flexural tension cracks occurred on
the respective extreme tension fibres at the second cycle when = 1. For NEW-80-01-09-S which
was subjected to low compressive axial load level and contained small amount of longitudinal steel,
the first flexural tension cracks occurred in the first cycle when = 0.75. Similarly, in all column
specimens except for NEW-80-01-09-S, the spalling of concrete cover on both extreme fibres was
initiated by the compression crushes that took place when the lateral displacement at the column tip
was about to reach = 2. However for NEW-80-01-09-S, the concrete cover spalled in the cycle
of = 3. As the lateral displacement increased in succeeding inelastic cycles, the concrete cover
continued to spall so that finally the longitudinal steel buckled owing to the loss of concrete cover.
The first visible signs of concrete cover spalling and longitudinal steel buckling for the tested
column specimens are shown in Figure 6 in their respective experimental moment-displacement
hysteresis curves.

6. TEST RESULTS

6.1. Moment-displacement and moment-curvature hysteresis curves

The moment-displacement and moment-curvature hysteresis curves of the column specimens are
shown respectively in Figures 6 and 7. The theoretical moment capacity calculated based on Eurocode
2 (ECS 2004), Mu, is shown as a solid horizontal line in Figure 6, where the drop between this line
and the dotted line refers to the secondary moment due to P- effect. Also shown in Figure 6 is the
scale of nominal () and actual ( ) displacement ductility factor.
From the hysteresis curves presented in Figure 6, it is observed that: (a) The maximum moment
capacity of the column always occurred within inelastic range. Columns subjected to the largest axial
load level, i.e. NEW-60-06-61-S, NEW-60-06-61-C and NEW-100-06-61-C, attained their maximum
positive and negative moment capacities in the first cycle of = 3 or 4. All other column speci-
mens, which were subjected to either moderate or small axial load level, reached their flexural strength
in the cycle of = 2 or 3. The maximum moment capacities occur beyond the elastic cycle is
mainly due to the confining effect provided by the confining reinforcement in the post-elastic range
(Pam and Ho, 2001); (b) the proposed content of confining reinforcement causes HSRC columns
subjected to high axial load level, i.e. NEW-60-06-61-S, NEW-60-06-61-C and NEW-100-06-61-C,
to behave moderately ductile, as they managed to reach at least = 5 (drift = 5%); and (c) The

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
112 J. C. M. HO

-4 -2 0 2 4 -4 -2 0 2 4

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
500
500

moment (kNm)

moment (kNm)
400 l 400
P- moment P- moment
300 300
200 200
drift (%)
100 100 drift (%)
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
0 0
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20-100 0 20 40 60 80 100 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20-100 0 20 40 60 80 100
(mm)
-200 -200 (mm)

-300 -300

-400 -400

-500 -500

(a) NEW-60-06-61-S (b) NEW-60-06-61-C

Legend:
l Spalling of left concrete cover
Spalling of right concrete cover
Buckling of left longitudinal bars
Buckling of right longitudinal bars

-4 -2 0 2 4
-4 -2 0 2 4 6

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
-4 -2 0 2 4 6

moment (kNm)
500 500
moment (kNm)

400 400
P- moment
300 300
P- moment
200 200
100 drift (%) 100 drift (%)
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
0 0
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20
-100 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-100 0 20 40 60 80 100
(mm) (mm)
-200 -200
-300 -300
-400 -400
-500 -500

(c) NEW-100-03-24-S (d) NEW-100-03-24-C

Figure 6. Experimental moment-displacement hysteresis curve.

results suggested that the moderate amount of confining reinforcement, calculated using Equation
(10), could prevent brittle and sudden failure of HSRC columns having concrete cylinder strength of
up to 96 MPa.
From Figure 7, it can be observed that the column curvature increased rapidly after the first two
cycles due to: (a) large residual strain accumulated in the columns due to inelastic behaviour; (b)
development of flexural cracks; (c) extensive spalling of concrete cover; (d) inelastic buckling of
longitudinal steel; and (e) formation of critical region. It is also evident that all column specimens
could reach c 10 before failure occurred. The limited ductility behaviour of the column specimens
is believed to be contributed by the provision of adequate confinement reinforcement calculated
according to Equation (10) within the column critical region.

6.2. Envelopes of moment-curvature curves

Figure 8 compares the envelopes of the measured and the theoretical moment-curvature curves. The
theoretical curves were considered only in the positive direction and derived based on the actual
material strengths. From the figure, it is evident that the analytical moment-curvature curves almost

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 113

-4 -2 0 2 4 -4 -2 0 2 4

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6

500

moment (kNm)
300

moment (kNm)
400
200
300 P- moment
P- moment
200
1 00
drift (%) 100 drift (%)
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
0 0
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20
-100 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-1 00 (mm) (mm)
-200

-200 -300
-400
-300 -500

(e) NEW-80-01-09-S (f) NEW-80-03-24-C

Legend:
l Spalling of left concrete cover
Spalling of right concrete cover
Buckling of left longitudinal bars
Buckling of right longitudinal bars

-4 -2 0 2 4 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

moment (kNm)

600 600

400
P- moment moment (kNm) 400
P- moment
200 200
drift (%)
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 drift (%) -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
0 0
-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
-200 -200
(mm)
(mm)
-400 -400

-600 -600

(g) NEW-100-03-61-C (h) NEW-100-06-61-C

Figure 6. Continued

coincide with the experimental curves in the ascending branch. However, the analytical curves gener-
ally underestimate the post-peak moment-curvature curves of the column specimens slightly.

6.3. Displacement and curvature ductility factors

Displacement and curvature ductility factors are used in this experimental study to evaluate the flex-
ural ductility of HSRC columns. Displacement ductility factor refers to the member overall ductility
depending on the material strengths, axial load level, length and geometry of the member. On the
other hand, curvature ductility factor refers to the section ductility, which depends on the section
geometry, material strengths and axial load level.
There are two types of displacement ductility factor. The first one is nominal displacement ductility
factor (), which is calculated using experimentally obtained lateral displacement based on the theo-
retical flexural strength (Mu). The second definition is introduced based on the measured flexural
strength, and is named actual displacement ductility factor () since it is always observed that Mp >
Mu. The actual yield displacement and actual displacement ductility factor can then be expressed,
respectively, by:

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
114 J. C. M. HO

-10 -5 0 5 10 c -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15

c

moment (kNm)
moment (kNm)
500 500
400 400
300 300
200 200
100 100
0 0
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 -100 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 -100 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3
curvature (rad/m) curvature (rad/m)
-200 -200
-300 -300
-400 -400
-500 -500

(a) NEW-60-06-61-S (b) NEW-60-06-61-C

-1 0 -5 0 5 10 -10 -5 0 5 10
c c

500

moment (kNm)
moment (kNm)

500
400 400
300 300
200 200
1 00 100
0 0
-0.1 5 -0.1 0 -0.05 -1 00 0.00 0.05 0.1 0 0.1 5 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05 -1000.00 0.05 0.10 0.15

-200 curvature (rad/m) -200 curvature (rad/m)

-300 -300
-400 -400
-500 -500

(c) NEW-100-03-24-S (d) NEW-100-03-24-C

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 c

c
moment (kNm)

500
moment (kNm)

300
400
200 300
200
100
100
0 0
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 -0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05
-1000.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
-100 curvature (rad/m)
curvature (rad/m) -200
-300
-200
-400
-300 -500

(e) NEW-80-01-09-S (f) NEW-80-03-24-C

Figure 7. Experimental moment-curvature hysteresis curve.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 115

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 -10 -5 0 5 10

c c

moment (kNm)
600 600

moment (kNm)
400 400

200 200

0 0
-0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 -0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
-200 curvature (rad/m) -200
curvature (rad/m)

-400 -400

-600 -600

(g) NEW-100-03-61-C (h) NEW-100-06-61-C

Figure 7. Continued

Table 3. Ultimate actual displacement and curvature ductility factors.

Average
Column P/Agfc s (%) y (mm)* u (mm) d y (rad/m)* u (rad/m) c
NEW-60-06-61-S 0.61 2.10 20.4 68.6 3.4 0.0149 0.1230 8.3
NEW-60-06-61-C 0.59 2.00 20.0 79.9 4.0 0.0171 0.1742 10.2
NEW-100-03-24-S 0.32 2.10 15.3 51.7 3.4 0.0127 0.1205 9.5
NEW-100-03-24-C 0.38 2.45 18.9 73.7 3.9 0.0125 0.1121 9.0
NEW-80-01-09-S 0.12 1.73 18.4 67.1 3.7 0.0175 0.2233 12.8
NEW-80-03-24-S 0.31 2.10 18.4 77.5 4.2 0.0151 0.1481 9.8
NEW-100-03-61-C 0.39 2.20 24.4 108.2 4.4 0.0153 0.1726 11.3
NEW-100-06-61-C 0.65 3.20 19.9 89.7 4.5 0.0188 0.1944 10.4
*Average of positive and negative cycles.

4 1 + 2
y = (13)
3 2

= y (14)

where 1 and 2 are the measured lateral displacements at 0.75 Mp respectively.

To evaluate the flexural ductility of the column units, ultimate actual displacement ductility factor
(d) and ultimate curvature ductility factor (c) have been adopted in this study. Both ductility factors
reveal the extent of respectively the lateral displacement at the column tip and the maximum column
curvature that could be reached when the flexural strength has degraded by 20% of Mp. The values
of c can be calculated from Equation (9), while those of d from:

d = u y (15)

where u is the ultimate displacement, measured at the column tip when the moment reaches 0.8 Mp
in the post-peak range.
The values of d and c together with their corresponding yield values are listed in Table 3. It can
be observed that the obtained values of c for all column specimens are fairly close to 10, which could
be regarded as the measure of limited ductility. Such design would be most suitable for HSRC columns
of tall buildings located in low- and moderate-risked seismic areas or in structures that prohibit the
development of fully ductile response.

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
116 J. C. M. HO

600 600

500 500

Moment (kNm)

Moment (kNm)
400 400

300 300

200 Analytical 200 Analytical

Analytical
Experimental Experimental
100 100

0 0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Curvature (rad/m) Curvature (rad/m)
(a) NEW-60-06-61-S (b) NEW-60-06-61-C
600 600

500 500

Moment (kNm)
Moment (kNm)

400 400

300 300

200 Analytical 200 Analytical

Experimental Experimental
100 100

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Curvature (rad/m) Curvature (rad/m)

(c) NEW-100-03-24-S (d) NEW-100-03-24-C

600 600
Analytical Analytical
500 500
Experimental Experimental
Moment (kNm)
Moment (kNm)

400 400

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Curvature (rad/m) Curvature (rad/m)

(e) NEW-80-01-09-S (f) NEW-80-03-24-C

600 600

500 500
Moment (kNm)
Moment (kNm)

400 400

300 300

200 Analytical 200 Analytical

Experimental Experimental
100 100

0 0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Curvature (rad/m) Curvature (rad/m)

(g) NEW-100-03-61-C (h) NEW-100-06-61-C

Figure 8. Theoretical and experimental moment-curvature curves.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Nonlinear moment-curvature curves well extended into the post-elastic region were studied analyti-
cally and experimentally to investigate the flexural ductility performance of limited ductility HSRC
columns. The analyses were based on the stressstrain curves of the concrete and steel that incorpo-

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 LIMITED DUCTILITY DESIGN OF RC COLUMNS 117

rates the stress-path dependence effects of tension steel in the post-elastic range. By comparing the
theoretical moment-curvature curves and the experimental envelopes, it is evident that the theoretical
curves almost coincide with the experimental envelopes apart from some underestimation in the post-
peak range. Subsequently, a comprehensive parametric study has been carried out using nonlinear
moment-curvature analysis to correlate the volumetric ratio of confining reinforcement to various
parameters for the design of limited ductility HSRC columns.
The flexural ductility performance of HSRC columns containing confining reinforcement designed
according to the proposed formula was investigated experimentally. Eight HSRC columns with con-
crete cylinder strengths from 50 to 96 MPa have been cast and tested under various levels of compres-
sive axial load from 0.1 to 0.65 and reversed cyclic inelastic displacement excursions. From the test
results, it is evident that ultimate curvature ductility factors obtained for all the column specimens
were close to 10, which is considered the standard for limited ductility. The design is thus suitable
for HSRC columns of tall buildings in regions having low to moderate seismic risk where the design
of fully ductile columns is too generous and/or not necessary.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Generous support from Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research (10208121) of The University
of Hong Kong (HKU) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank the laboratory
staff of the Department of Civil Engineering, HKU, for their technical support provided in the experi-
mental tests.

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NOTATIONS

Ac Core concrete area measured to outside of confining reinforcement

Ag Gross concrete cross-section area
Ash Cross-section area of confining reinforcement
c Side dimension of concrete core
d Diameter of confining reinforcement
Es Elastic modulus of steel
f Stress in concrete
fc Concrete cylinder strength
fcc, fco Confined and unconfined concrete compressive strengths
fhcc Stress in confinement steel at maximum confined concrete stress
fe Effective lateral confining pressure
fs Stress in steel
fsu Ultimate strength of steel
fy Yield strength of longitudinal reinforcement
fys Yield strength of confining reinforcement
ke Confinement effectiveness coefficient
Mp Measured maximum moment capacity
Mu Theoretical flexural strength of column
P Compressive axial load
P Parameter for strain hardening portion of steel stress-strain curve (Eq. 8)
R Mild steel round bar with specified yield strength of 250 MPa
s Centre-to-centre spacing of confining reinforcement
T High yield deformed bar with specified yield strength of 460 MPa
Measured lateral displacement of column tip
u Measured lateral displacement of column tip at 0.8 Mp post peak
y, y Nominal and actual yield displacements respectively
1, 2 Column lateral displacement at +0.75 Mu and 0.75 Mu respectively
1, 2 Column lateral displacement at +0.75 Mp and 0.75 Mp respectively
Strain in concrete
cc, co Concrete strains at confined and unconfined concrete peak stresses
hcc Strain in confining steel at concrete peak stress
p Residual plastic strain in steel at zero stress after strain reversal
s Strain in steel
sh Steel strain at commencement of strain hardening
su Ultimate steel strain
y Yield strain of steel
u, y Ultimate and yield curvatures
, Nominal and actual displacement ductility factors
c Ultimate curvature ductility factor
d Ultimate actual displacement ductility factors

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
120 J. C. M. HO

Area ratio of longitudinal steel

s Actual volumetric ratio of confining steel provided in column specimens
s Volumetric ratio of confining steel calculated by Eq. (10)

ABBREVIATIONS

HSC High-strength concrete

HSRC High-strength reinforced concrete
LVDT Linear variable displacement transducer
NSC Normal-strength concrete
NSRC Normal-strength reinforced concrete
NZS New Zealand Standard
RC Reinforced concrete

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 20, 102120 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal