Construction of the interaction curve of concrete-encased composite columns based on the deformation domains of reinforced concrete sections

This paper proposes a methodology for obtaining the interaction curve for composite steel-concrete sections subject to combined compression and bending based on the deformation domains of reinforced concrete structures defined by ABNT NBR 6118 [1]. For this, were developed expressions for the axial force, the moment and the strains of concrete, longitudinal reinforcement and the elements comprising the metal profile in each deformation domain.Based on these expressions a computer program called MDCOMP (2014) was created. In this study the same limit values of longitudinal reinforcement strain defined by ABNT NBR 6118 [1] were used for the steel profile strains. To verify the numerical implementations performed, the interaction curves and the plastic resistance of the section obtained by MDCOMP program were compared with those determined from the recommendations of Eurocode 4 [2], of ABNT NBR 8800 [3] or literature responses.