Capacity of Corrosion-Damaged Eccentrically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Columns

The residual strength of corrosion-damaged eccentrically loaded columns is presented along with a strength-prediction model developed on the basis of a substantial amount of test data generated from the testing of 48 specimens under eccentric axial loading, 36 of which were subjected to accelerated corrosion to induce various degrees of corrosion damage. The test variables included two different cross sections, two different diameters of longitudinal steel, and different corrosion periods. The proposed approach for an estimation of residual strength involves two steps: first, the strength is calculated by conventional mechanics using only the reduced area of steel after metal loss from corrosion, and then this value is reduced by multiplying with a proposed reduction factor developed through a multi-level regression of test data to collectively account for all other corrosion-damage effects. The accuracy of the proposed method has been verified by comparing results with available test data.