Experimental Study of High-Strength Concrete Columns Confined with Different Types of Mesh under Eccentric and Concentric Loads

A new idea is investigated in this study to reduce the cover spalling of high-strength concrete columns: installing relatively cheap materials such as household fly screen and wire mesh in the formwork of RC columns. Three materials were chosen in this study: fiberglass fly mesh (FGFM), standard aluminum fly mesh (SAFM), and 12.7 x 12.7 galvanized steel wire mesh (S12.7 WM). A total of 16 cylindrical specimens with a length of 925 mm and a diameter of 205 mm were cast and tested under concentric, eccentric, and pure bending loading. The testing results showed that S12.7 WM significantly improved the load-carrying capacity under both concentric and eccentric loading but did not significantly increase the ductility of the columns for each load case. FGFM and SAFM significantly improved the ductility of columns under concentric loading, but the significance decreased with the increase in eccentricity. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000234. (C) 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.