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Short column posses high stiffness that attracts most of the force acting on the multi-story building. Inadequate design of short column to sustain these forces will result in damage and shear failure. This behaviour of the short column under excessive force is called as short column effect. Special attention is required for short columns and hence recommended to avoid in building design especially for earthquake-prone areas. The effect of a short column is disastrous as they undergo brittle shear failure. The phenomenon of short column effect, its results and remedies are explained below.Short Column Effect
In certain building either due to the ground conditions or due to the requirement of intermediate beam there requires the construction of short columns as shown in figure-1 below. Various structural configurations also demand the need for short columns.
Fig.1. Short Columns Used in Different Building Conditions( Alqatamin,Talposi)

Fig.2. Short Columns Attracts more shear force compared to long columns( Alqatamin,Talposi)

Fig.3. X Shaped cracking in short columns of a multi-storey building

Fig.4: Short columns and Long columns at same Floor level( Alqatamin,Talposi)
Remedies for Short Column Effect
1. The first possible solution is to avoid the use of a short column in the architectural design stage itself. 2. If short columns cannot be ignored, special design requirements are followed.As per ACI code, for those columns that have chances to undergo short column effect will require special confining reinforcement called the ductile reinforcement. The reinforcement provided must extend to the columns below and above by a certain amount as stated in standards.Figure-5 below shows the reinforcement detailing of the short column and long columns.
Fig.5: Reinforcement Details for Short Columns and Long Columns;( Alqatamin, Talposi)