• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.19-36
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• 2023

An experimental study of eleven PVC-FRP Confined Concrete (PFCC) column-Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam joints reinforced with Core Steel Tube (CST) under axial compression is carried out. All specimens are designed in accordance with the principle of "weak column and strong joint". The influences of FRP strips spacing, length and steel ratio of CST, height and stirrup ratio of joint on mechanical behavior are investigated. As the design anticipated, all specimens are destroyed by column failure. The failure mode of PFCC column-RC beam joint reinforced with CST is the yielding of longitudinal steel bars, CST and stirrups of column as well as the fracture of FRP strips and PVC tube. The ultimate bearing capacity decreases as FRP strips spacing or joint height increases. The effects of other three studied parameters on ultimate bearing capacity are not obvious. The strain development rules of longitudinal steel bars, PVC tube, FRP strips, column stirrups and CST are revealed. The effects of various studied parameters on stiffness are also examined. Additionally, an influence coefficient of joint height is introduced based on the regression analysis of test data, a theoretical formula for predicting bearing capacity is proposed and it agrees well with test data.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.283-292
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• 2015

In the moment frame subjected to earthquake loads, beam-column joint is structurally important for ductile behavior of a system. ACI Committee 352 proposed guidelines for designing beam-column joint details. The guidelines, however, need to be updated because of the lack of data regarding several factors that may improve the performance of joints. The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete exterior joints with high-strength materials and unbonded tendons. Three specimens with different joint shear demand-to-strength ratios were constructed and tested, where headed bars were used to anchor the beam bars into the joint. All specimens showed satisfactory seismic behavior including moment strength of 1.3 times the nominal moment, ductile performance (ductility factor = at least 2.4), and sufficiently large dissipated energy.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.665-679
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• 2015

The strain rate of reinforced concrete (RC) structures stimulated by earthquake action has been generally recognized as in the range from $10^{-4}/s$ to $10^{-1}/s$. Because both concrete and steel reinforcement are rate-sensitive materials, the RC beam-column joints are bound to behave differently under different strain rates. This paper describes an investigation of seismic behavior of RC beam-column joints which are subjected to large cyclic displacements on the beam ends with three loading velocities, i.e., 0.4 mm/s, 4 mm/s and 40 mm/s respectively. The levels of strain rate on the joint core region are correspondingly estimated to be $10^{-5}/s$, $10^{-4}/s$, and $10^{-2}/s$. It is aimed to better understand the effect of strain rates on seismic behavior of beam-column joints, such as the carrying capacity and failure modes as well as the energy dissipation. From the experiments, it is observed that with the increase of loading velocity or strain rate, damage in the joint core region decreases but damage in the plastic hinge regions of adjacent beams increases. The energy absorbed in the hysteresis loops under higher loading velocity is larger than that under quasi-static loading. It is also found that the yielding load of the joint is almost independent of the loading velocity, and there is a marginal increase of the ultimate carrying capacity when the loading velocity is increased for the ranges studied in this work. However, under higher loading velocity the residual carrying capacity after peak load drops more rapidly. Additionally, the axial compression ratio has little effect on the shear carrying capacity of the beam-column joints, but with the increase of loading velocity, the crack width of concrete in the joint zone becomes narrower. The shear carrying capacity of the joint at higher loading velocity is higher than that calculated with the quasi-static method proposed by the design code. When the dynamic strengths of materials, i.e., concrete and reinforcement, are directly substituted into the design model of current code, it tends to be insufficiently safe.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.37-57
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• 2012

The behavior of beam-column joints in moment resisting frame structures is susceptible to damage caused by seismic effects due to poor performance of the joints. A good number of researches were carried out to understand the complex mechanism of RC joints considered in current seismic design codes. The traditional construction detailing of transverse reinforcement has resulted in serious joint failures during earthquakes. This paper introduces a new design philosophy involving the use of additional diagonal bars within the joint particularly suitable for low to medium seismic effects in earthquake zones. In this study, ten full-scale interior beam-column specimens were constructed with various additional reinforcement details and configurations. The results of the experiment showed that adding additional bars is a promising approach in reinforced concrete structures where earthquakes are eminent. In terms of overall cracking observation during the test, the specimens with additional bars (diagonal and straight) compared with the ones without them showed fewer cracks in the column. Furthermore, concrete confinement is certainly an important design measure as recommended by most international codes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.417-430
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• 2021

Due to functional requirements, SRC column-RC beam abnormal joints with characteristics of strong beam weak column, variable column section, unequal beam height and staggered height exist in the Steel reinforced concrete (SRC) frame-bent main building structure of thermal power plant (TPP). This paper presents the experimental results of these abnormal joints through cyclic loading tests on five specimens with scaling factor of 1/5. The staggered height and whether adding H-shaped steel in beam or not were changing parameters of specimens. The failure patterns, bearing capacity, energy dissipation and ductile performance were analyzed. In addition, the stress mechanism of the abnormal joint was discussed based on the diagonal strut model. The research results showed that the abnormal exterior joints occurred shear failure and column end hinge flexural failure; reducing beam height through adding H-shaped steel in the beam of abnormal exterior joint could improve the crack resistance and ductility; the abnormal interior joints with different staggered heights occurred column ends flexural failure; the joint with larger staggered height had the higher bearing capacity and stiffness, but lower ductility. The concrete compression strut mechanism is still applicable to the abnormal joints in TPP, but it is affected by the abnormal characteristics.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2007

The beam-column assembly in a ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to seismic loading are generally controlled by shear and bond mechanisms, both of which exhibit poor hysteretic properties. Hence the response of joints is restricted essentially to the elastic domain. The usual earthquake resistant design philosophy of ductile frame buildings allows the beams to form plastic hinges adjacent to beam-column assembly. Increased strain in these plastic hinge regions affect on joint strain to be increased. Thus bond and shear joint strength are decreased. The research reported in this paper presents the test results of five RC beam-column assembly after developing plastic hinges in beams. Main parameter of the test Joints was the amount of the longitudinal tensile reinforcement of the beams. Test results indicted that the ductile capacity of joints increased as the longitudinal tensile reinforcement of the beams decreased. In addition, both the tensile strain of the longitudinal reinforcement bars in the joint and the ductile ratio of the beam-column assemblages increased due to the yielding of steel bars in the plastic hinge regions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2021

Deficient beam-column joints of reinforced concrete (RC) structures designed to older practices and codes often lead to destructive local or global failures. A strengthening technique for these joints based on the use of the new and innovative Carbon-FRP (C-FRP) ropes is presented and investigated. The C-FRP ropes are diagonally placed in superficial notches on the two sides of the joint. Two full scale external substandard joint subassemblages with the same characteristics, one unstrengthened and one strengthened with diagonally applied C-FRP ropes, are constructed and tested in cyclic loading. Special attention has been given to the elaboration of the acquired test measurements. The extracted conclusions are based on the comparative study of the hysteretic responses of the specimens, the observed maximum load envelopes, the comparisons of the joint body shear deformations as measured using diagonally mounted LVTDs, the calculated nominal principal stresses developed in the joint regions, the assessed joint damage as expressed by the damage index by Park and Ang and finally the calculated values of the equivalent damping ratio. From these comparisons it is concluded that application of diagonally mounted C-FRP ropes on the two sides of the joint body of exterior connections is an efficient easy-to-apply technique for the strengthening of substandard RC joints.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.231-248
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• 2022

Hybrid Steel-Trussed Concrete Beam (HSTCB) is structural typology suitable for light industrialization. HSTCBs usually cover long span with small depths, which lead to significant amount of longitudinal rebars. The latter make beam-column joints more prone to damage due to earthquake-induced cyclic actions. This phenomenon can be avoided using friction-based BCCs. Friction devices at Beam-to-Column Connections (BCCs) have become promising solutions to reduce the damage experienced by structural members during severe earthquakes. Few solutions have been developed for cast-in-place Reinforced Concrete (RC) and steel-concrete composite Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs), because of the difficulty of designing cost-effective damage-proof connections. This paper proposes a friction-based BCC for RC MRFs made with HSTCBs. Firstly, the proposed connection is described, and its innovative characteristics are emphasized. Secondly, the design method of the connection is outlined. A detailed 3D FE model representative of a beam-column joint fitted with the proposed connection is developed. Several monotonic and cyclic analyses are performed, investigating different design moment values. Lastly, the numerical results are discussed, which demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solution in preventing damage to RC members, and in ensuring satisfactory dissipative capacity.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.547-552
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to make a contribution to the construction of 40∼60 story R/C high rise building by developing the reinforcing details which can improve the seismic performance of high-strength (f'c=700㎏/㎠, fy=4000, 8000㎏/㎠) R/C beam-column joints. The reinforcing details which can make beam plastic hinging zones moved and spreaded from the column face is proposed to insure the ductile behavior of high-strength RC beam-column joints. The intermediate reinforcement which is vertically anchored by interlinking each intermediate reinforcements is proposed and tested to examine the mechanical performance of proposed details. Main variables are the shape of the intermediate reinforcements and yield strength of rebars. From the test results, the newly proposed intermediate reinforcement details can move and spread the beam plastic hinging zone about 1.0d from the column face.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2023

This paper presents experimental and numerical studies of seismic performance on reinforced concrete (RC) wide beam (WB) joints. Two RC-WB joint specimens and one conventional RC joint specimen were fabricated using the reinforcing details of longitudinal reinforcing bars in a beam as a variable, and quasi-static cyclic loading tests were performed. The results were used to compare and analyze the load-drift ratio relationship, failure mode, and seismic performance of the specimens quantitatively. In addition, a finite element (FE) analysis of the RC-WB joint was conducted, and the rationality of the FE model was validated by comparing it with the test results. Based on the FE model, a parametric study was conducted, where the ratio of longitudinal reinforcing bars placed on the outer and inner parts of the joint (𝜌_ex/𝜌_in) was a key variable. The results showed that, in the RC-WB joint, an increase of 𝜌_ex/𝜌_in leads to more severe damage to concrete, which reduces the seismic performance of the RC-WB joints.