Cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete columns with short lap splices subjected to uniaxial and biaxial loadings

Abstract

Most old reinforced concrete (RC) buildings were designed only considering gravity loads. The reinforcement details used in those buildings do not often comply to the current design code requirements, ie., columns in the buildings have short lap spliced longitudinal reinforcement and widely spaced transverse reinforcements. Such insufficient reinforcement details could lead to a significant damage and abrupt collapse during earthquake events. In this study, the cyclic behavior of old RC columns was assessed subjected to unidirectional and bidirectional loadings. Two full-size RC column specimens were made and tested. Lap splice failure occurred in both specimens prior to reaching their calculated strength. Such phenomenon was more significant in the bidirectional specimen.