Compressive Strength Characteristics of Concrete-Filled Plastic Tubes Short Columns

This paper presents the results of an experimental programme which investigated the effect, on compressive strength, of using unplasticized polyvinyl (UPVC) tubes in confining short concrete columns. Plastic tubes having varying diameters and heights were used to confine concrete of different strengths. The resulting composite columns were subjected to concentric axial compressive loads until failure. The principal failure mode was a typical shear failure. The results indicated that compressive strength of the column specimens increase with increased concrete strength while the same decreased with increased column height, albeit by a small margin since all the columns considered were short columns. A comparison of the ultimate load carrying capacity and column compressive strength was then made between unconfined and the resulting composite column. Strength increased between 1.18 to 3.65 times the unconfined strength. The study shows greater potentiality of plastics as concrete confinement construction materials of the near future.