Importance of composite steel concrete structures in earthquake resistant design – a critical review

A large number of reinforced concrete buildings collapsed with storey failures, which can be observed in the earthquake resulted in USA, Mexico, Japan, Chile, Turkey and India from 1904 to 2001. Especially RC columns at the corner posts of failure storey collapsed in shear under larger compressive axial forces generated by larger horizontal and vertical accelerations. In order to prevent the shear failure of RC columns resulting in the storey failure of building structures, ‘it is necessary to make the ductility of the columns larger’. In this paper the concept of steel composite have been highlighted in the form of Core steel composite columns, Concrete filled rectangular tubular columns (this being the new trend in high rise composite construction), Partially encased composite beam-columns, Composite RCS (Reinforced Concrete Steel) moment resisting frame system typically consisting of reinforced concrete columns, which may have smaller embedded I-shape for erection purpose and act as structural beams. From the above study, and through experimental work, it reveals the importance of steel composites in resisting earthquake forces by significant improvements in ductility and energy absorption capacity.