t 2Dmm dio
21.mm dio
Fig. 3 - Typical molds with reinforcement cages
least eight hoop bar diameters embedded in the con-
crete core. The spacing of transverse hoops was re-
duced by one-half for the 200 mm (7 .9 in.) at each end
of the test units to provide extra confinement and in-
sure that failure occurred in the 800 mm (31.5 in.) long
central region. Table 1 gives the center-to-center spac-
ing of the hoop sets and the volume ratios of the trans-
verse reinforcement for the test units.
Note that there is a difference between the detailing
practice in the United States and New Zealand. U .S.
practice 11 perrnits column transverse reinforcement to
engage only alternate bars if they are within 152 mm
(6 in.) of a tied bar. New Zealand practice' requires the
center-to-center spacing across the cross section be-
tween tied bars to not exceed the larger of one-third
of the cross section dimension in that direction or 200
mm (7.9 in.). In the test specimens all longitudinal bars
were tied (see Fig. 1). According to New Zealand prac-
tice all bars needed to be tied. U .S. practice would re-
quire all the bars of the 8-bar column to be tied, but
would allow one of the intermediate bars in each face
of the 12-bar column not to be tied.
The test units were cast in the vertical position in
batches of 10. The construction sequence consisted of
assembling the reinforcing cages, fixing the strain
gages, and placing the cages in the painted and oiled
plywood molds. The 16 mm (0.63 in.) diameter hori-
zontal bars at the third points of the test units (see Fig.
1) were passed through the sides of the mold and
bolted to position the cages in the mold accurately. The
concrete was placed in three lifts and well vibrated.
Fig. 3 illustrates sorne of the molds.
Table 1 also lists the measured yield strengths of the
steel found from tension tests, and Fig. 4 shows the
stress-strain curves for the bars.
The concrete used was normal weight, had a maxi-
mum aggregate size of 20 mm (O. 79 in.), used ordinary
portland cement, and had a slump of 75 mm (3 in.).
The cylinders were cured at 20 C (68 F) in 100 percent
relative humidity, while the test units were covered
with hessian and polythene with the top surface kept
moist. After 7 days of curing, the cylinders and units
were stripped and stood in the laboratory until testing.
The average compressive strengths given by the 200
ACI JOURNAL I January-February 1982
600
el:
~
V)
V)
lu 400
~
V)
200
NOTE -
1mm = 0.0391. m
o
o 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
STRAIN
Fig. 4 - Stress-strain curves for steel reinforcement
mm (7 .9 in.) high x 100 mm (3.9 in.) diameter cylinders
at age 6 weeks, which was close to the time of testing
the units, are shown in Table 1.
TESTING PROCEDURE
Testing machine and strain rates
The tests were conducted in a DARTEC electrohy-
draulic universal testing machine which has a vertical
load capacity of up to 10 MN (2248 kips) and a max-
imum available clearance between the top and bottom
steel platens (bearing plates) of 4 m (13.1 ft). The
DARTEC machine can be either load or displacement
controlled. The machine is capable of recording the
load carried during the whole strain range, including
the descending portion of the load-strain curve after
maximum load. The applied load was measured to a
precision of 1 kN (225 lb) and checked by strains mea-
sured on the columns of the testing machine.
The tests were conducted at a controlled rate of lon-
gitudinal compressive strain of either 0.0000033/sec,
0.00167/sec, or 0.0167/sec, normally up to a maximum
strain of about 0.04. The high strain rate is represen-
tative of that expected during seismic loading. The low
strain rates were for comparison.
lnstrumentation
Longitudinal concrete strains in the test units were
measured using linear potentiometers over the central
400 mm (15. 7 in.) gage length on each vertical face of
the units. The potentiometers were attached (screwed)
to the 16 mm (0.63 in.) diameter horizontal bars which
were at the one-third points of the units (see Fig. 1).
The average of these strains was also checked against
the overall longitudinal strain observed from the stroke
displacement of the loading jack of the DARTEC ma-
chine, and good agreement was found when allowance
was made for the flexibility of the machine.
Electrical resistance strain gages were attached to the
underside of the transverse hoop bars at three different
levels within the central 400 mm (15.7 in.) of the test
units. These straín gages measured the stresses índuced
in the hoop reinforcement by the confining pressure.
For the tests conducted at the slow strain rate, the
15