Lateral Impact Response of Steel Reinforced Concrete Columns: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

In structural constructions, reinforced concrete columns are essential components and they are probable to be exposed for lateral impact loading during their functional life, resulting from collisions with vehicles or ships, or the dropping of solid objects. These loads are characterized by their sudden and high intensity and can contribute to localized failure or fracture of the structure if appropriate reinforcement or impact resistance design is deficient. The behavior of concrete columns experiencing impact loading changes completely from conditions of static loading, as a result of this, and for ensuring overall structural safety, investigating their performance and studying the parameters affecting their impact resistance has become critical. This paper summarizes the laboratory tests, and numerical research on concrete columns reinforced with steel exposed to impact loading, by including the effect of key factors on columns subjected to impact load such as transverse reinforcement spacing, velocity of impact, axial load ratio, concrete compressive strength, ratio of longitudinal reinforcement, cross sectional dimensions, and boundary conditions on the dynamic response, impact force, displacement, and failure mechanisms of steel reinforced concrete columns. The study introduced demonstrates that RC columns are highly vulnerable to brittle failure under lateral impact loading, particularly when failure is controlled by shear mechanisms. Increasing impact velocity amplifies the peak impact force, accelerate damage evolution, and shifting failure from flexure to brittle shear mode. The axial compression ratio plays a crucial role in changing deflection behavior, contact duration, and the plateau impact force value. Moreover, inadequate shear reinforcement promotes premature shear failure, while increased transverse reinforcement improves confinement effectiveness, delays crack propagation, and significantly enhances the energy dissipation capacity of the member. This review highlights the demand for further experimental and finite element studies to improve predictive models and develop the design of reinforced concrete columns exposed to lateral shock loads.