The behavior of concrete cylinders confined by shape memory alloy wires

The purpose of this study was to propose a new method to confine concrete cylinders or reinforced concrete columns using martensitic or austenitic shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. The prestrained martensitic SMA wire was wrapped around a concrete cylinder then heated by a heating jacket. In the process, the confining stress around the cylinder was developed in the SMA wire due to the shape memory effect, which can increase the strength and ductility of the cylinder under axial compressive load. For austenitic shape memory wires, the wires were prestrained as they were wrapped around the concrete cylinders on which post-tensioning stress was generated. In this study, martensitic and austenitic SMA wires of 1.0 mm in diameter were used for the confinement. Recovery tests were conducted on the martensitic wire to assess the recovery stress. Also, a superelastic behavior test was performed for the austenitic wire. The confinement by martensitic SMA wires increased the strength slightly and greatly increased the ductility compared to the strength and ductility of plain concrete cylinders. The austenitic SMA wires showed a similar effect on concrete cylinders to that of the martensitic wires. This study showed the potential of the SMA wire jacketing method to retrofit reinforced concrete columns and protect them from seismic risks.