Experimental study on the seismic performance of demountable RCS joints

Abstract

In this study, three novel demountable Reinforced Concrete column-to-Steel beam (RCS) joints with different connection methods were proposed, and their seismic performances were investigated by the cyclic loading tests. The failure pattern, hysteresis relationships, skeleton curves, stiffness degradation, and strain behavior were carefully analyzed. The failure mode of these RCS joints with different connection methods was discussed. Significant differences were observed in the lateral force capacity and energy dissipation of the different joints. The test results indicated that the lateral force capacity of the demountable RCS joints was higher than that of the non-demountable joint. In addition, a comparison between the calculated shear capacities in the core area of the joints and the experimental results showed that the calculated values given by the Architecture Institute of Japan (AIJ) code and this study were 50% and 10% higher than the experimental values, respectively. The shear capacity given by the code ANSI/AISC 358–16 was more than 70% higher than the experimental values, which indicated that the calculations overestimated the shear capacity of the joints. To verify the correctness of the design formula for joint shear capacity, it will be necessary to conduct extensive experimental and theoretical studies in the future.