Determination of Axial Capacity for Enhanced Normal and Ultra - High Performance Concrete Columns

Concrete Technology has been developing for more than a century. One of the most exceptional achievements in concrete technology is the evolving of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) which has been a research focus in a wide applications diversity. In this paper, an experimental work has been carried out for investigating the transverse and longitudinal reinforcements’ variation influence on the axial capacity of UHPC columns. Eight columns (five UHPC columns and three Normal Strength Concrete (NSC) columns) have been poured and tested under a concentric axial compression load till a failure is reached. Then, the results are reported herein. The experimental results show that UHPC columns failed in a controlled manner and no concrete chips or a concrete cover spalling are observed. Also, the longitudinal reinforcements have not buckled away beyond the peak load because of the presence of the reinforcing steel fibers in UHPC. Correspondingly, the steel ties spacing proportionally affects the load carrying capacity of columns as presented hereinafter.