Behavior of geopolymer and conventional concrete beam column joints under reverse cyclic loading

Abstract

An experimental investigation was carried out on the strength and behavior plain and fiber reinforced geopolymer concrete beam column joints and the results were compared with plain and steel fiber reinforced conventional concrete beam column joints. The volume fraction of fibers used was 0.5%. A total of six Geopolymer concrete joints and four conventional concrete joints were cast and tested under reversed cyclic loading to evaluate the performance of the joints. First crack load, ultimate load, energy absorption capacity, energy dissipation capacity stiffness degradation and moment-curvature relation were evaluated from the test results. The comparison of test results revealed that the strength and behavior of plain and fiber reinforced geopolymer concrete beam column joints are marginally better than corresponding conventional concrete beam column joints.