Innovative equivalent elastic modulus based stress calculation methodology for reinforced concrete columns

The combination of linearity and elasticity assumptions provides classical calculation procedures for the reinforced concrete (RC) columns and beams against internal and external seismic loads. In these calculation procedures, the elasticity modulus of the concrete is taken into account by ignoring the steel reinforcement due to its small area percentage in the total cross-section area. This paper presents an innovative column stress calculation procedure considering the concrete-steel composition as the equivalent elastic modulus based on the classical Hooke's Law. This methodology takes into consideration also the elastic modulus of the steel, providing a reduction in the factor of safety. The application of the proposed method is presented for a series of RC column cross-section areas. It is observed that the proposed methodology leads to elastic modulus improvement of 6% to 27% compared to conventional calculations. The necessary flow chart for the execution of the proposed process steps and accordingly developed MATLAB program are provided for the application.