Reinforced concrete (RC) columns in cold regions are often exposed to combined seismic actions and cryogenic environments, which can significantly alter their structural response. This study examines the seismic performance of RC columns over a temperature range of 20 °C to −90 °C using numerical simulations, with axial load ratios of 0.0–0.6 and stirrup ratios of 1.0–3.0% considered. The results reveal that failure modes remain generally consistent across temperatures, while damage becomes more pronounced at lower temperatures. A decrease in temperature leads to higher peak load and initial stiffness, accompanied by a reduction in ductility. Taking the specimens with ρsv = 1.0% as an example, as the temperature decreases from 20 °C to −30 °C, −60 °C, and −90 °C, the peak load increases by 10.9%, 17.1%, and 32.7%, respectively. As the temperature decreased from 20 °C to −90 °C, the ductility coefficient decreased by 33.3%, and the total dissipated energy increased by 6.4%. Increasing the stirrup ratio enhances deformation capacity and partially mitigates ductility loss. Furthermore, the influence of axial load ratio on hysteretic response follows a similar pattern to that at ambient temperature, but with greater sensitivity under cryogenic conditions. Based on the numerical findings, predictive expressions are proposed to estimate the plastic hinge length and flexural strength considering temperature effects.
Liu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.