Cyclic Lateral Performance Evaluation of Precast Double-Skinned Composite Tubular Columns

Recently, bridge construction technology has experienced great progress with the development of high-performance materials and new structural types. On the contrary, most attention has been primarily paid to cast-in-place technologies and material cost savings. Even so, cast-in-place methods may present environmental issues at the construction sites, which frequently cause conflicts with residents. Thus, to overcome such disadvantages, precast methods have been strongly developed and especially applied in the construction of bridge superstructures. However, this has not been the case for substructures. Still, previous works on the development of precast solutions for such type of structures have been devoted to the design of double-skinned composite tubular (DSCT) columns. These studies included the design and construction methodology of precast segmental bent caps, column-bent cap, column-segment, and column-foundation joints. In this paper, the cyclic performance of precast DSCT columns was extensively analyzed experimentally. For this purpose, two test specimens were prepared, depending on the type of the segments connection, namely a splice plate and a mortar-grouting joint.