Nonlinear behaviour of corrosion damaged low-strength short reinforced concrete columns under compressive axial cyclic loading

•Experimental testing of corrosion damage low-strength concrete columns under compressive loading.•Influence of corrosion damage on inelastic buckling of stocky low-strength concrete columns.•Impact of corrosion on confined low-strength concrete behaviour under cyclic loading.•Influence of cross sectional shape on failure modes of corroded column under cyclic loading. New codes have recently introduced seismic detailing for new structures. However, there are still older reinforced concrete (RC) structures without proper ductile detailing for earthquake resistance in seismic-prone areas. These structures are further impacted by the corrosion of their embedded reinforcing bars, which further reduces the strength and ductility under axial cyclic loading. This paper summarises the results of an experimental investigation performed on low-strength short RC columns, with different confinement configurations, subject to varying degrees of corrosion to investigate their structural responses to axial cyclic loading. The experiment was conducted on 30 short RC columns (square and circular) with three levels of confinement and steel reinforcement corrosion loss ranging from 0% to ∼ 30% subjected to cyclic compressive loading. The test results show that corrosion and inadequate confinements have a significant negative impact on the structural responses of corroded columns.