A new look at reliability of reinforced concrete columns

This paper presents an investigation on reliability of reinforced concrete columns. For short columns, the fiber model is used for generating failure surfaces and strain and stress histories of both steel and concrete fibers under proportional and sequential loads. Two failure criteria, one based on the collection of peak-load points, the other based on prescribed maximum concrete strains are presented. For slender columns, failure surfaces are generated using a method proposed in 1991 by Bazant et al, (ACI Structural Journal, 1991, 88, 391-401). The reliability estimation of short and slender columns under random loads is formulated by Monte Carlo simulation in the load space. In this space, isoreliability contours for both deterministic and nondeterministic columns under different load paths and load correlations are plotted. It is demonstrated that these factors may have substantial effects on the reliability of reinforced concrete columns. Therefore, the results of this study can be used to support the consideration of load path and load correlation in the development of improved evaluation and design specifications for reinforced concrete columns. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.