Investigation on seismic performance and shear strength of high-strength concrete-filled polyvinyl chloride tube short columns

This paper innovatively designs polyvinyl chloride tube (PVCT) with high-strength concrete (HC) and presents the results of cyclic loading tests on new reinforced high-strength concrete short columns, including three high-strength concrete-filled PVCT (HC-PVCT) short columns, one high-strength concrete-filled steel tube short column and one HC short column. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the seismic behaviors of HC short columns based on the quasistatic test of the columns. The design parameters of the columns in the experiments were axial compression ratio, reinforcement measures, concrete strength, stirrups configuration, and the height-diameter ratio of tubes. The crack distribution, failure modes, hysteresis loops, skeleton curves, energy dissipation capacity, strength degradation, stiffness degradation, and cumulative damage of the columns were presented and analyzed. The results showed that the HC-PVCT column had a fuller hysteretic loop and a higher peak load than the HC column. Compared with HC column, the strength degradation of HC-PVCT columns was slower, and the ductility increased significantly. With a larger axial compression ratio, the ductility of HC-PVCT columns was decreased. Based on the test and analysis results, a modified HC-PVCT design method was proposed to calculate the nominal shear strength of HC-PVCT short columns.