VIII.

REINFORCED CONCRETE COLUMNS

INTRODUCTION
Columns are structural elements used primarily to support compressive loads. Short, stocky
columns subjected to small bending moments are often called axially loaded. A reinforced concrete
column can be roughly divided into the following categories.

a. Short compression block or pedestal. If the height of an upright compression member is less
than three times its least lateral dimensions, it may be considered to be a pedestal. A pedestal may
be designed with unreinforced or plain concrete with a maximum design compressive stress equal
to 0.85 f c Ag .
'

b. Short reinforced concrete columns. Should a reinforced concrete column fail due to initial
material failure, it is classified as a short column. The load that it can support is controlled by the
dimensions of the cross section and the strength of the materials of which it is constructed. A short
column is a stocky member with little flexibility.

c. Long or slender reinforced concrete columns. One in which the load capacity is influenced by
slenderness which produces additional bending because of traverse deformations. As slenderness
ratios are increased, bending deformations will increase as will the resulting secondary moments. If
these moments are of such magnitude, the axial load capacity of columns is significantly reduce.

Types of reinforced concrete column

Plain concrete column can support very little load, but its load-carrying capacity will be greatly
increased if longitudinal bars are added. Further substantial strength increase may be made by providing
lateral restraint for these longitudinal bars in the form of closed ties or helical spirals wrapped around the
longitudinal reinforcement.
Reinforced concrete columns are referred to as tied or spiral columns depending on the method
used for laterally bracing or holding the bars in place.

a. Tied column. A tied column has a series of closed ties. These ties are effective in increasing the
column strength. They prevent the longitudinal bars from being displaced during construction and
they resist the tendency of the same bars to buckle outwards under load, which would cause the
outer concrete cover to break or spall off. Tied columns are ordinarily square or rectangular, but they
can be octagonal, round, L-shaped, etc,

b. Spiral column. A spiral column has a continuous helical spiral made from bars or heavy wire
wrapped around the longitudinal bars. Spirals are even more effective than ties in increasing column
strength. The closely spaced spirals do a better job of holding the longitudinal bars in place, and the
also confine the concrete inside and greatly increase its resistance to axial compression. As the
concrete inside the spiral tends to spread out laterally under the compressive load, the spiral that
restraints it is put into hop tension, and the column will not fail until the spiral yields or breaks,
permitting the bursting of concrete inside. Spiral column are normally rounds, but they also can be
made into rectangular, octagonal, or other shapes. For such columns, circular arrangements of bars
 are still used. Spirals are usually used for large heavily loaded columns and in seismic areas
because of their resistance to earthquake loads. Also, spirals are very effective in increasing the
ductility and toughness of columns.

c. Composite columns. These are concrete columns that are reinforced longitudinally by structural
steel shapes, which may or may not be surrounded by structural bars, or they may consist of
structural tubing filled with concrete (commonly called lally column).

Types of columns

SHORT COLUMN SUBJECTED TO AXIAL LOAD

Axial Load Capacity for Short Column

The safety of reinforced concrete column is extremely difficult to assess using the elastic theory and
allowable stresses because

Creep and shrinkage of concrete have strong influence on the stresses in steel and concrete
tending to increase the longitudinal steel stress and to reduce the concrete stress; and,
The possibility to have tension in the concrete and compression in the steel for columns having a
large percentage of steel and a heavy initial load.

On the other hand, the ultimate load of the column does not vary appreciably with the history of the loading.

Steel will normally reach the yield strength before the concrete reaches its full strength when load
is increased; and,
The column can carry further loads because the steel sustains the yield stress while the
deformations and load increases until the concrete reaches its full strength.

The following graph illustrates the above behavior of concrete

Axial load-strain curves for steel and concrete of axially loaded reinforced
concrete column

The theoretical load (or yield load) of an axially loaded reinforced concrete column is the sum of the
yield strength of the steel plus the strength of the concrete.

Po Ast f y c f c' Ag Ast

Although in test it shows c 0.60 1.00 (with and average value of 0.83) the ACI Code provision is
c 0.85 . Thus
Po Ast f y 0.85 f c' Ag Ast
or Po 0.85 f c' Ag Ast Ast f y
Ast
If
Ag
Ast g Ag

Then
Po Ag 0.85 f c' 1 g g f y
where:
Ag = gross cross sectional area of column
Ast = total area of the longitudinal steel
g = steel ratio or percentage of longitudinal reinforcement which range from 0.01 to 0.08
f y = yield stress of steel
Po = yield or theoretical axial load for short column

Up to the load Po , tied and spiral columns behave almost identically and the transverse steel adds very
little to the strength of the column.

For tied column, once the load Po is reached the ties not closely spaced immediately fails,
accompanied by breakdown of the concrete and buckling of the longitudinal steel bars between ties
having large spacing.
For spiral column, once the load Po has been reached, the shell of concrete outside the spiral is
cracked or destroyed. The load capacity is reduced because the loss of concrete area. However,
the spacing of the spiral steel is usually small enough to prevent buckling of the longitudinal bars
between spirals. Hence, the longitudinal bars continue to carry load.

All columns are subjected to axial forces as well as bending moments. To account the effect of
moments caused by minimum eccentricities, the Code requires that the theoretical axial load capacity be
multiplied by a factor , which is equal to 0.85 for spiral columns and 0.80 for tied columns. Thus, the
nominal axial compressive strength of column Pn is

Pn Po

For tied columns: = 0.80 Pn 0.80 Po

For spiral columns: = 0.85 Pn 0.85 Po

The Code specify a safety provision for column capacity by multiplying the nominal axial compressive
strength Pn by a reduction factor, . Thus, the factored or ultimate axial compressive strength Pu is

Pu Pn ( Po )
 For tied columns: = 0.70 Pn ( 0.80 Po )
For spiral columns: = 0.75 Pn ( 0.85 Po )

Code Requirements and Safety Provisions for Cast-In-Place Columns

The ACI Code specifies a few limitations on the dimensions, reinforcing, lateral restraint and other
items pertaining to concrete columns. Some of the most important limitations are as follows.

1. Axial load capacity for short tied or spiral column.

a. Theoretical axial compressive load

Po Ag 0.85 f c' 1 g g f y
b. Nominal axial compressive load

Pn Po

For tied columns: = 0.80 Pn 0.80 Po

For spiral columns: = 0.85 Pn 0.85 Po

c. Factored or ultimate axial compressive load

Pu Pn ( Po )

For tied columns: = 0.70 Pn ( 0.80 Po )

For spiral columns: = 0.75 Pn ( 0.85 Po )

2. The minimum and maximum percentage of longitudinal reinforcement may not be less than 1% and
may not be greater than 8 % respectively, of the gross cross sectional area of a column. An amount
of steel less than 1% makes the column fail in nonductile state. On the other hand, the maximum
value is given to prevent too much crowding of the bars.

3. The minimum numbers of longitudinal bars permissible for compression members are
4 for bars within rectangular or circular ties
3 for bars within triangular shaped ties
6 for bars enclosed within spirals
4. The minimum width of column is about 200 mm (8) while the minimum diameter is 250 mm (10).

5. When tied columns are used, the ties shall not be less than 10 mm, provided that the longitudinal
bars are 32-mm or smaller. The minimum size is 12-mm for longitudinal bars larger than 32-mm
and for bundled bars.
The center-to-center spacing of ties shall not be more than
 16 times the diameter of longitudinal bars,
48 times the diameter of the ties, or
the least lateral dimension of the column
6. The clear spacing of spirals may not be less than 25 mm or greater than 75 mm. The actual
spacing of spirals is

4 Asp
s
s Dc

Ag f'
where: s 0.45 1 c
Ac fy

core of column

Dc D

D = gross diameter of the column

Dc = diameter of the core of column which is out-to-out of the spirals
Ag = gross cross sectional area of column
Ac = cross sectional area of the core
Ast = cross sectional area of the spirals

7. Allowable eccentricities, e.

For tied column: e = 0.10 h

For spiral column: e = 0.05 h

where: h = column dimension

Typical tie arrangement