Experimental study on the seismic performance of SRC columns with large area of core steel

To SRC columns, the area of interior steel, shape steel or built-up steel, is usually not greater than 15 percentage of the whole section. In this paper, however, six pieces of SRC columns with structural steel ratio up to 30 percentage were tested under low cyclic loads. The test specimen was pin-restrained at two ends, and a new type of constraint device was carefully designed to make the rotation center exactly coincide with the axis of specimen. By the analysis of hysteric curves obtained from the test, it is realized that SRC column with large ratio of steel is superior to those with ordinary steel ratio by its high strength , great ductility and large capacity to dissipate energy. Those excellent properties are not only owing to the area ratio of steel, but also the spread of the steel.