Axial compression capacity analysis of prefabricated steel reactive powder concrete columns in prefabricated modular buildings

Abstract

This article proposes a prefabricated steel reactive powder concrete (PSRPC) component. Axial compression tests are conducted with five 3m full-scale column specimens to investigate the specimen damage and failure process and to measure the axial displacement, strain and ultimate bearing capacity in order to study the influences of the RPC strength and the section steel flange thickness on the mechanical properties of the PSRPC. The tests show the following. The ultimate failure mode of the PSRPC is column end splitting. During the loading process, the RPC and the section steel work compatibly, and their strengths are given full play. The lateral effect of the RPC on the section steel and the composite confinement effect of the stirrups and section steel on the RPC core significantly increase the ultimate bearing capacity of the PSRPC, and these effects increase with an increase in the RPC strength. The confinement effect on the RPC core in the enclosed region increases with an increase in the section steel flange thickness, that is, the thicker the section steel flange, the larger the portion of the load taken by the RPC core and the higher the ultimate bearing capacity of the PSRPC. The finite element analysis of PSRPC specimen is carried out by ANSYS software, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the test results. A method for calculating the axial bearing capacity of a full-scale column is proposed, taking the confinement effect of the stirrups and section steel on the RPC core into account.