Effects of Core Drilling Location on the Response of Eccentric Axially Loaded Columns under Cyclic Lateral Loads

Abstract

In evaluating the performance of existing reinforced concrete buildings, compressive strength is determined by core samples taken from the structural elements. Regarding ease of application, the core area is selected as close to the column's bottom as possible. Although studies in the literature and relevant regulations state that coring should be done from the middle area of the columns, there is no evaluation of the behavior of the columns under different loading conditions. Besides, the location of the cored area can be ignored for symmetrically loaded columns; it will vary for eccentric axially loaded columns, which are frequently encountered in practice. Only axial load has been considered for the evaluations in studies investigating the effect of the cored area on the load-bearing element. However, this should also be evaluated under horizontal cyclic loadings that change the tensile and compressive zones of the load-bearing element. Therefore, this study aims to determine the most suitable coring area on the column by considering the literature, regulations and application situations in reinforced concrete columns subjected to eccentric axial loading and horizontal cyclic loading with the finite element method. In addition, the study aims to provide an academic basis for the importance of loading type (symmetric/eccentric) in selecting the core drilling area, which is often determined randomly in practice.