Design of Slender Concrete Columns

A PROPOSAL IS OFFERED FOR REVISING THE SLENDER COLUMN DESIGN PROCEDURES OF THE 1963 ACI CODE. THE USE IS PROPOSED OF A RATIONAL SECOND-ORDER STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS WHEREVER POSSIBLE OR PRACTICAL. IN PLACE OF SUCH AN ANALYSIS, AN APPROXIMATE DESIGN METHOD BASED ON A MOMENT MAGNIFIER PRINCIPLE AND SIMILAR TO THE PROCEDURE USED UNDER THE AISC SPECIFICATIONS IS PROPOSED. AN OUTLINE OF THE NORMAL RANGE OF VARIABLES IN COLUMN DESIGN AND A LOWER LIMIT OF APPLICABILITY IS PROPOSED WHICH WILL ELIMINATE OVER 90 PERCENT OF COLUMNS IN BRACED FRAMES AND ALMOST HALF OF COLUMNS IN UNBRACED FRAMES FROM CONSIDERATION AS SLENDER COLUMNS. THROUGH A SERIES OF COMPARISONS WITH ANALYTICAL AND TEST RESULTS, THE ACCURACY OF THE APPROXIMATE DESIGN PROCEDURE IS ESTABLISHED. /AUTHOR/