Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Circular Columns Subjected to Double Curvature Buckling Moment

Abstract This paper investigates experimentally and numerically structural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) circular column under double curvature buckling moment. RC circular columns are popularity embraced in RC structures not only owing to its esthetic, attractive appearance and easy for construction, but also for its better contribution for stress resistance. However, the corner or edge columns may be exposed to edge moment (EM) transferred from beam–column joint with double curvature effect. The current investigation proposes to understand the structural exhibition of such columns subjected to double curvature buckling edge moment generated at beam–column joint considering some parameters. A total number of 11 full-scale RC circular columns were constructed, installed, and then tested up to failure studying four parameters. These parameters were: clear height-to-diameter ratio ( λ ), longitudinal and lateral steel ratios ( μ and ρ , respectively) and concrete type. The λ ratio has been introduced with: 4.89, 4.51 and 4.14. The μ ratio has been presented by: 2.2%, 2.3%, 2.6%, and 3.1%, while the ρ ratio was employed with: 0.84%, 0.93%, 1.00% and 1.18%. Three concrete types were studied; one of them was normal concrete (NC), while the other ones were high-performance concretes (HPCs) which were engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and high-strength fiber reinforced concrete (HSFRC). Experimental outcomes revealed that all studied parameters could affect and upgrade the structural performance; however, both longitudinal reinforcement and height-to-diameter ratio provided significant enhancement (about 51%–64%). Parallel to those exploited experimentally, nonlinear three-dimensional finite element models (FEMs) were installed, executed and established considering experimental outcomes producing an acceptable model with an under/over-estimation of about 4%.