STRESS-STRAIN MODEL FOR CONFINED REINFORCED CONCRETE IN BRIDGE PIERS. DISCUSSIONS AND CLOSURE

Two discussions of a paper with the aforementioned title by J. Hoshikuma, K. Kawashima, K. Nagaya, and A.W. Taylor, published in this journal (Volume 123, Number 5, May 1997), are presented. The first discusser presents a model that he proposed in 1991, which was developed on the basis of a large database including 63 column specimens with rectangular hoops from five different experimental programs. He also proposes that the effect of hook shape, the relationship between the strength of the unconfined specimens the authors tested to the cylinder strength, and the possible effect of longitudinal reinforcement warrant further investigation. The last two discussers present eight points that they believe deserve further attention before the authors' approach for confined concrete columns can be utilized. Discussions are followed by closure from the authors.