Behaviour of precast beam column connections subjected to seismic type loading

Abstract

Though the precast concrete structural systems are being widely newlineused worldwide, in India most of the constructions are cast-in-situ concrete newlineconstructions. The tremendous growth of population in India and limited newlinespace available has led to the demand for multistory residential buildings. newlineThis demand can be satisfied by the utilization of factory made quality newlinecontrolled precast units that provides for faster construction leading to newlineeconomy. Earthquakes are natural disasters which have caused a lot of newlineinfrastructural damage and loss to human lives. In the past earthquakes, the newlinecost effective precast structural systems had not performed well. The failure newlineof the precast structures was attributed to the poor performance of newlineconnections. Connections form the weakest link in the precast concrete newlinestructure. For the past four decades though a lot of research has been carried newlineout on the behavior of precast structures, a complete understanding of the newlinebehaviour of precast beam-column connections to lateral loading has not been newlinebrought out. newline Precast concrete structural systems displaying non-linear response newlinecharacteristics can be broadly classified into two main categories as newlineEquivalent Monolithic Systems and Jointed Systems. Since the seventies, it newlinecan be widely observed in the literature that a lot of research on precast structures emulating the behaviour of reinforced concrete cast in-situ seismic newlineresistant frames had been carried out. However limited research work has newlinebeen carried out on jointed systems for use in seismic regions. The present study aims at investigating experimentally and newlineanalytically the cyclic behaviour of beam-column dry mechanical newlineconnections for precast concrete elements and to identify an ideal dry newlinemechanical joint that would perform efficiently in seismic zones. In the newlinepresent study, seven types of simple mechanical precast beam column newlineconnections and a reference monolithic specimen were considered.