Axial behavior of RC columns retrofitted using bamboo reinforced concrete jacket

Weak or damaged reinforced concrete columns need to be retrofitted in order to increase the strength capacity and ductility. Concrete jacketing is one of the most common techniques adopted for such purpose due to its relatively simple and low-cost application. However, the dependency on steel reinforcement in its use is still high and with the sustainability issues that are getting more important nowadays, the idea of bamboo as a replacement for steel as reinforcing bars in the concrete jacketing method has been investigated in this experimental study. A group of short reinforced concrete column specimens with axial load failure state were then retrofitted with a variety of longitudinal and transversal bamboo reinforcement configurations of concrete jacketing and subjected to further compression axial load test. The axial load-displacement behavior, axial strength capacity, and collapse mechanisms were recorded and analyzed. The outcomes showed that bamboo reinforced concrete jacket perform satisfactorily by restoring the axial load capacity and increasing ductility of column specimens providing that the bamboo stirrups spacing was set closer than that of the original column.