Experimental Study on the Effect of Moisture Content on Hysteretic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Columns

Background: For reinforced concrete structures under different humid conditions, the mechanical properties of concrete are significantly affected by the moisture content, which may result in a great change of the functional performance and bearing capacity. Objective: This paper presents an experiment to investigate the influence of the moisture content on the dynamic characteristics and hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete column. Results: The results show that the natural frequency of reinforced concrete columns increases quickly at an early stage of immersion, but there is little change when the columns are close to saturation; the difference between the natural frequencies before and after cyclic test grows as the moisture content rises. The damping ratio slightly decreases first and then increases with the increase of moisture content; the damping ratio after the cyclic test is larger than before the test due to the development of the micro-cracks. Conclusion: The trend of energy dissipation is on the rise with increasing moisture content, although at an early stage, it decreases slightly. According to the experimental result, a formula for the moisture content on the average energy dissipation of reinforced concrete columns is proposed.