PurposeThe application of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in anchorage zones can significantly improve the local compression performance of structures. However, the high cost and complex preparation of UHPC make UHPC difficult to be widely used in practice. This study proposes a method to strengthen the local compression zone of structures built by normal strength concrete (NSC) by incorporating UHPC cores.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a Finite Element Model (FEM) of local compression specimens was established by ABAQUS, and the accuracy of FEM was verified by comparing the FEM calculation results with experimental results. The verified FEM was adapted to the research on the influences of affecting factors on local compression performance of structures, including NSC strength, UHPC strength, spiral steel bar strength, and UHPC core diameter.FindingsThe results show that the peak load of the strengthened specimen SC1-U + N increases by 210.2% compared to that of the SC1-NSC. Furthermore, compared to SC1, the strengthened specimen SC1-U + N can save 64.7% amount of UHPC while the peak load decreases by only 34.4%. The peak load of the strengthened specimens increases with the axial compressive strength and the diameter of UHPC cores increasing, crack load increases with increasing the compressive strength of NSC, the spiral steel bar with high strength can prevent the sharp drop of load-deflection curve and the residual bearing capacity increases accordingly. All findings indicate that increasing the diameter of UHPC cores can improve the overall performance of the specimens. Under loading, all specimens fail by following a similar pattern. The effectiveness of this new strengthen method is also verified by FEM analytical calculations.Originality/valueBased on the experimental study, this study extrapolates the influence of different parameters on the local bearing capacity of the strengthened specimens by finite element simulation. This method not only ensures the accuracy of bearing capacity assessment, but also does not require many samples, which ensures the economy of the reinforcement process. The research results provide a reference for the reinforcement design of anchorage zone.