CONFINEMENT OF CONCRETE CYLINDERS WITH CREEP

Preliminary testing of concrete cylinders and columns wrapped with advanced composite material (ACM) sheets has already shown that the confinement improved their compressive strength and ductility. An additional experimental program was carried on, in which more complex configurations of the wrapping sheets were studied. The present article focuses on these recent experimental results, obtained by testing a series of confined circular and short concrete columns with rectangular and square sections in compression. Results for various confinement configurations and shapes are presented. In the first series of tests presented, axial loads were applied to concrete cylinders wrapped with different carbon laminae orientations. A relationship was found between the orientation of the fibres and the stiffness of the confined cylinder. The second series of tests presented here, which were conducted on square and rectangular confined prisms, have provided satisfying results. It was found that the uniaxial compressive strength is greatly improved by rounding the corners of the columns.