Performance of axially loaded polyvinyl-chloride fibrous concrete filled tube short columns

Abstract

Concrete Filled Tube (CFT) columns represent an effective alternative to conventional reinforced concrete columns. Recently, there have been trials to replace steel encasing tubes with Polyvinyl-Chloride (PVC) tubes for the enhancement of columns performance. The use of fibrous concrete as the core of such columns still needs more focus. In this study, glass fibrous concrete was used to fabricate PVC CFT (PCFT) short columns. PVC tubes thickness, tube roughness and lateral PVC supporting ties were the adopted parameters herein. These columns were tested in compression and their vertical and lateral deformations were monitored during loading. It was concluded that PCFT columns have generally shown higher axial capacity and ductility in comparison to concrete core. The best performance was related to PCFT columns with rough interface which showed axial capacity of about two thirds and ductility of about three folds higher than concrete core. Also, the use of lateral ties along the column height showed reasonable results, but the installation method of these ties needs to be modified to reach better results. Based on the experimental program, a design formula was deduced to predict short PCFT columns capacity with an error of about 8%.