Seismic Response of Reinforced Concrete Short Columns Failed in Shear

Short columns are designed as structural members having a high stiffness with low ductility and governed by brittle shear failures. During an earthquake, short columns are often the first members to fail. Therefore, their stiffness, strength, and collapse behavior are significant to the seismic evaluation of building structures. This study conducted tests of eight full-scale specimens to investigate the seismic behavior of short columns failed in shear. The test parameters include aspect ratio, hoop ratio, and axial load ratio. Test results show that shear deformation accounted for a major part of the lateral deformation in short columns, and that the shear strength of short columns can be determined by strut-and-tie model. It was also found that the degradation of shear strength beyond the peak value is a gradual process, and can be modeled by a straight line with a negative slope.