• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-98
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• 2018

This research was conducted to study the behavior of exterior concrete beam-column joints with reinforced shape memory alloy (SMA) bars tested under cyclic loading. These bars benefit from superelastic behavior and can stand high loads without residual strains. The experimental part of the study, 8 specimens of exterior concrete beam-column joints were made and tested. Two different types of concrete with 30 and 45 MPa were used. Four specimens contained SMA bars and 4 specimens contained steel bars in beam-column joints. Furthermore, different transverse reinforcements were used in beams investigate the effects of concrete confinement. Specimens were tested under cyclic loading. Results show that SMA bars are capable of recentering to their original shape after standing large displacements. Due to the superelastic behavior of SMA bars, cracks at the joint core vanish under cyclic loading. As the cyclic loading increased, bending failure occurred in the beam outside the joint core. In the analytical parts of the study, specimens were simulated using the SeismoStruct software. Experimental and analytical results showed a satisfactory correlation. Plastic hinge length at the beam joint for specimens with SMA and steel bars was calculated by empirical equations, experimental and analytical results. It was shown that Paulay's and Priestley's equations are appropriate for concrete beam-column joints in both types of bars.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.417-430
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• 2023

As the key part in the reinforced concrete column-steel beam (RCS) frame, the beam-column joints are usually subjected the axial force, shear force and bending moment under seismic actions. With the aim to study the seismic behavior of RCS joints with and without RC slab, the quasi-static cyclic tests results, including hysteretic curves, slab crack development, failure mode, strain distributions, etc. were discussed in detail. It is shown that the composite action between steel beam and RC slab can significantly enhance the initial stiffness and loading capacity, but lead to a changing of the failure mode from beam flexural failure to the joint shear failure. Based on the analysis of shear failure mechanism, the calculation formula accounting for the influence of RC slab was proposed to estimate shear strength of RCS joint. In addition, the finite element model (FEM) was developed by ABAQUS and a series of parametric analysis model with RC slab was conducted to investigate the influence of the face plates thickness, slab reinforcement diameter, beam web strength and inner concrete strength on the shear strength of joints. Finally, the proposed formula in this paper is verified by the experiment and FEM parametric analysis results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.245-260
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• 2015

In this study, nominal moment-axial load interaction diagrams, moment-curvature relationships, and ductility of rectangular hybrid beam-column concrete sections are analyzed using the modified Hognestad concrete model. The hybrid columns are primarily reinforced with steel bars with additional Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) control bars. Parameters investigated include amount, pattern, location, and material properties of concrete, steel, and GFRP. The study was implemented using a user defined comprehensive $MATLAB^{(R)}$ simulation model to find an efficient hybrid section design maximizing strength and ductility. Generating lower bond stresses than steel bars at the concrete interface, auxiliary GFRP bars minimize damage in the concrete core of beam-column sections. Their usage prevents excessive yielding of the core longitudinal bars during frequent moderate cyclic deformations, which leads to significant damage in the foundations of bridges or beam-column spliced sections where repair is difficult and expensive. Analytical results from this study shows that hybrid steel-GFRP composite concrete sections where GFRP is used as auxiliary bars show adequate ductility with a significant increase in strength. Results also compare different design parameters reaching a number of design recommendations for the proposed hybrid section.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.337-352
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• 2021

The study presented experimental and numerical investigation on the seismic performance of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) L-shaped column- reinforced concrete (RC) beam joints. Various parameters described as steel configuration form, axial compressive ratio, loading angle, and the existence of slab were examined through 4 planar joints and 7 spatial joints. The characteristics of the load-displacement response included the bearing capacity, ductility, story drift ratio, energy-dissipating capacity, and stiffness degradation were analyzed. The results showed that shear failure and flexural failure in the beam tip were observed for planar joints and spatial joint, respectively. And RC joint with slab failed with the plastic hinge in the slab and bottom of the beam. The results indicated that hysteretic curves of spatial joints with solid-web steel were plumper than those with hollow-web specimens. The capacity of planar joints was higher than that of space joints, while the opposite was true for energy-dissipation capacity and ductility. The high compression ratio contributed to the increase in capacity and initial stiffness of the joint. The elastic and elastic-plastic story deformation capacity of L-shaped column frame joints satisfied the code requirement. A design formula of joint shear resistance based on the superposition theory and equilibrium plasticity truss model was proposed for engineering application.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.299-310
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• 2018

When reinforced concrete structures are subjected to strong seismic forces, their beam-column connections are very susceptible to be damaged during the earthquake event. Consequently, structural designers try to fit an important quantity of steel reinforcement inside the connection, complicating its construction without a clear justification for this. The aim of this work is to evaluate -and demonstrate- numerically how the quantity and the array of the internal steel reinforcement influences on the nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection. For this, two specimens (extracted from an experimental test of 12 RC beam-column connections reported in literature) were modeled in the Finite Element code FEAP considering different stirrup's arrays. The nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection is evaluated taking into account the nonlinear thermodynamic behavior of each component: a damage model is used for concrete; a classical plasticity model is adopted for steel reinforcement; the steel-concrete bonding is considered perfect without degradation. At the end, the experimental responses obtained in the tests are compared to the numerical results, as well as the distribution of shear stresses and damage inside the concrete core of the beam-column connection, which are analyzed for a low and high state of confinement.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.237-250
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• 2015

Beam-column joints are highly vulnerable locations which are to be designed for high ductility in order to take care of unexpected lateral forces such as wind and earthquake. Previous investigations reveal that the addition of steel fibres to concrete improves its ductility significantly. Also, due to presence of slab the strength and ductility of the beam increases considerably and ignoring the effect of slab can lead to underestimation of beam capacity and defiance of strong column weak beam concept. The influence of addition of steel fibres on the strength and behaviour of steel fibre reinforced high performance concrete (SFRHPC) interior beam-column-slab joints was investigated experimentally. The specimens were subjected to reverse cyclic loading. The variable considered was the volume fraction of crimped steel fibres i.e., 0%, 0.5% and 1.0%. The results show that the addition of steel fibres improves the first crack load, strength, ductility, energy absorption capacity and initial stiffness of the beam.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.3
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• pp.367-382
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• 2019

This paper presents experimental and analytical investigations on additional fixed-end rotations resulting from the strain penetration of high-strength reinforcement in reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections under monotonic loading. The experimental part included the test of 18 interior beam-column connections with straight long steel bars and 24 exterior beam-column connections with hooked and headed steel bars. Rebar strains along the anchorage length were recorded at the yielding and ultimate states. Furthermore, a numerical program was developed to study the effect of strain penetration in beam-column connections. The numerical results showed good agreement with the test results. Finally, 87 simulated specimens were designed with various parameters based on the test specimens. The effect of concrete compressive strength ($f_c$), yield strength ($f_y$), diameter ($d_b$), and anchorage length ($l_{ah}$) of the reinforcement in the beam-column connection was examined through a parametric study. The results indicated that additional fixed-end rotations increased with a decrease in $f_c$ and an increase in $f_y$, $d_b$ and $l_{ah}$. Moreover, the growth rate of additional fixed-end rotations at the yielding state was faster than that at the ultimate state when high-strength steel bars were used.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.295-312
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• 2001

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new type of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) beam-column joints and to examine the structural performance of the proposed joints, which simplify the construction procedure of steel fabrication, welding works, concrete casting and joint strengthening. In the proposed beam-column joints, the steel element of columns forms continuously built-in crossing of H-sections (${\Box}$), with adjacent flanges of column being connected by horizontal stiffeners in a joint at the level of the beam flanges. In addition, simplified lateral reinforcement (${\Box}$) is adopted in a joint to confine the longitudinal reinforcing bars in columns. Experimental and analytical studies have been carried out to estimate the structural performance of the proposed joints. Twelve cruciform specimens and seven SRC beam-column subassemblage specimens were prepared and tested. The following can be concluded from this study: (1) SRC subassemblages with the proposed beam-column joints show adequate seismic performances which are superior to the demand of the current code; (2) The yield and ultimate strength capacities of the beam-to-column connections can be estimated by analysis based on the yield line theory; (3) The skeleton curves and the ultimate shear capacities of the beam-column joint panel are predicted with a fair degree of accuracy by considering a simple stress transfer mechanism.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.471-482
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• 2018

The composite reinforced concrete and steel (RCS) structural systems have larger structural lateral stiffness, higher inherent structural damping, and faster construction speed than either traditional reinforcement concrete or steel structures. In this paper, four RCS subassemblies with or without the RC slab designed following a strong column-weak beam philosophy were constructed and tested under reversed-cyclic loading. Parameters including the width of slab and composite effect of the RC slab and beam were explored. The test results showed that all specimens performed in a ductile manner with plastic hinges formed in the beam ends near the column faces. The seismic responses of composite connections are influenced significantly by different width of slabs. Compared with that of the steel beam without the RC slab, it was found that the load carrying capacity of composite connections with the RC slab increased by 30% on average, and strength degradation, energy dissipation also had better performance, while the ductility of that were almost the same. Furthermore, the contribution of connection deformation to the overall specimen displacement was analyzed and compared. It decreased approximately 10% due to the coupling effect in the columns and beams with the RC slab. Based on the test result, some suggestions are presented for the design of composite RCS joints.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.645-662
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• 1997

A nonlinear semi-three-dimensional layered finite element procedure is developed for cracking and failure analysis of reinforced concrete beams and the spandrel beam-column-slab connections of flat plates. The layered element approach takes the elasto-plastic failure behaviour and geometric nonlinearity into consideration. A strain-hardening plasticity concrete model and a smeared steel model are incorporated into the layered element formulation. Further, shear failure, transverse reinforcement, spandrel beams and columns are successfully modelled. The proposed method incorporating the nonlinear constitutive models for concrete and steel is implemented in a finite element program. Test specimens including a series of reinforced concrete beams and beam-column-slab connections of flat plates are analysed. Results confirm the effectiveness and accuracy of the layered procedure in predicting both flexural and shear cracking up to failure.