Evaluation of Shear Capacity Formulas for Corroded Reinforced Concrete Columns

This study establishes an experimental database of shear failure for corroded RC columns, including 86 rectangular and 12 circular sections. An overall analysis method based on mean and standard deviation is conducted, and a combined analysis of key parameters (corrosion rate, shear span ratio, axial load ratio, effective stirrup characteristic value) is performed to systematically evaluate the predictive capabilities of 12 existing semi-empirical and semi-theoretical shear bearing capacity models. The results indicate that, from a holistic assessment perspective, for rectangular section corroded RC columns, the prediction accuracy of Wu Ranli’s formula is optimal (mean of 0.95, standard deviation of 0.35); For circular section corroded RC columns, Ngoc (2016) formula provides the best prediction (mean of 1.13, standard deviation of 0.18). The analysis of key parameters reveals significant differences in the predictive performance of each model. When the stirrup corrosion rate is in different ranges, Wu Ranli’s and Ngoc (2016) models are applicable for predicting the shear bearing capacity of rectangular section corroded RC columns for λ_v′ ≤ 0.1 and λ_v′ > 0.1, respectively. When the axial load ratio is in different ranges, Wu Ranli’s model is applicable for predicting the shear bearing capacity of rectangular section corroded RC columns in all cases.