Analysis of confinement effect on strength and ductility in reinforced concrete structures

The lateral confinement in reinforced concrete structural components is an essential parameter to allow designer to use a sufficient percentage of transverse reinforcement in order to ensure the required strength and ductility for the structure. This paper deals mainly with the influence of lateral confinement on strength and ductility in reinforced concrete structures designed according to Algerian standards. An overview of the non-linear static analysis method is described below to better understand this analysis. Two different representative structures designed according to Algerian code for the design of earthquake resistant buildings (RPA99/v2003) are identified for the purpose of this study. This analysis provides the capacity curves for each structure with regard to the compressive strength and the volume percentage of the transverse reinforcement. The results obtained show that the lateral confinement improves widely the strength and the local ductility of the structure elements, although their effect on the overall behavior of the structure remains limited.