DEFORMATION CAPACITY OF RC MEMBERS COVERED BY HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE PIPE WITH ARC SHAPE CONTROLLER SYSTEM UNDER CYCLIC LOADING

Abstract

 Reinforced concrete (RC) members covered by high-density polyethylene pipe with arc shape controller system have been firstly proposed to be applied as vibration controller or damper, which requires high deformation capacity. The arc shape controllers are set at the end of RC member to appropriately control its bending deformation in plastic hinge region. Moreover, high-density polyethylene pipes are used to cover the RC member for its durability and to confine and prevent the spalling of concrete cover efficiently. These systems can improve the deformation capacity dramatically. To evaluate the deformation characteristics of the proposed RC damper, cyclic loading tests and simulation analyses are conducted in full scale of RC dampers by varying the dimension of arc shape. In this research, it is found that the deformation capacity of the proposed RC damper is more than twice of conventional RC damper under cyclic loading. The deformation mechanisms of the proposed dampers are evaluated and discussed in this paper.