Flexural and axial strengthening of preloaded concrete columns under large eccentric loads by flat and precambered steel plates

In this study, the behaviour of the preloaded reinforced concrete columns under large eccentric compression loading and strengthened with flat and precambered steel plates was investigated. An original analytical model considering the effects of stress-lagging induced by eccentric pre-compressed loading was developed to predict the ultimate load capacity of plate-strengthened columns. Then, 10 specimens with different eccentricities, plate thicknesses and initial precamber displacements were tested. The strength, deformability, ductility and moment–curvature response of the strengthened columns were examined, and the effectiveness of this approach was validated. The good agreement between the analytical and experimental results demonstrates that the proposed analytical model can accurately predict the load-carrying capacity of the plate-strengthened columns under large eccentric compression loading.