Experimental Study of Actual Operation of Plastic Tube Concrete Constructions

Abstract

The paper presents practical aspects of experimental research and numerical modeling of stress-strain parameters of the proposed construction element – plastic tube concrete (PTC). The obtained experimental data indicating the loss of load-bearing capacity enabled one to perform finite element analysis and to examine equivalent stresses in the middle sections of the simulated specimens through Mohr theory. The resulting numerical dependences are well conformed with the experimental data and make it possible to give a calculated justification for the experimentally proven increase in the loadbearing capacity of a PTC structure with respect to a nonencased concrete structure. The established load-bearing capacity coupled with the low cost and availability of plastic tubes makes it possible to consider PTC as an effective construction approach for some elements of building framing erected in record-breaking time, in restricted construction areas and along with other obstacles complicating traditional concretebased building technology.