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Cyclic Shear Performance of Reinforced Concrete Columns Strengthened by External Steel Rods

This study presents a strengthening method for reinforced concrete (RC) columns. The proposed method, which consists of a pair of steel rods, two reverse-threaded couplers, and four corner blocks, is feasible and straightforward. A quasi-static cyclic loading test was performed on the columns externally strengthened by the steel rods. It was found that the corner blocks and the external steel rods with a low prestress level effectively confined the concrete on the compression side of plastic hinges, which eventually induced flexural failure with a ductility higher than three in the strengthened columns. In addition, an analytical approach to predict the shear strength and ultimate flexural strength of the externally strengthened columns was applied. The comparison of analytical and experimental results showed that the analytical approach provided highly accurate predictions on the maximum strength and the failure mode of the externally strengthened columns. It is expected that the application of the proposed method will improve the seismic performance of damaged or deteriorated RC structures, thereby increasing their lifespan expectancy and sustainability.