Seismic Evaluation of Existing Reinforced Concrete Building Columns

Past earthquakes have emphasized the vulnerability of reinforced concrete columns having details typical of those built before the mid‐1970's. These columns are susceptible to axial‐flexural, shear, and bond failures, which subsequently may lead to severe damage or collapse of the building. Research was undertaken to investigate the lateral and vertical load‐resisting behavior of reinforced concrete columns typical of pre‐1970's construction. Eight full‐scale specimens were constructed and were loaded with constant axial load and increasing cyclic lateral displacement increments until failure. Test data are presented and compared with behavior estimated by using various evaluation methods.