Mechanical behavior of semi‐grouting sleeve and steel bar connection

Abstract

AbstractA series of pull‐out tests were conducted on semi‐grouting sleeve and steel bar connections to investigate the mechanical behavior of the connectors. Taking the steel bar diameter, anchorage length, and grouting material strength as the parameters. The test results showed that when the anchorage length was small and the grouting material strength was low, sufficient anchorage strength cannot be provided, specimens were subjected to bond slip failure, which belongs to the brittle failure. When the anchorage strength between the steel bar and the grouting material was sufficient, the steel bar breaking occurred on the specimens, which belongs to the ductile failure. Then, the semi‐grouting sleeve and steel bar connection was modeled by finite element software, and the bond slip between the steel bar and grouting material was simulated by COMBIN39 element. The results indicated that the failure mode of the specimen obtained by finite element simulation was the same as the test result. The ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen was highly similar to the test result, which verified the feasibility of the modeling method in this paper. Next, the number of specimens and parameter levels were increased through finite element modeling, and the influences of steel bar diameter, anchorage strength, and grouting material strength on the ultimate bearing capacity of semi‐grouting sleeve and steel bar connections were analyzed. The results testified that the ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen increased with the increase of steel bar diameter. In a certain range, the ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen increased with the raising of anchorage length and grouting material strength. While the anchorage length increased, the ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen did not necessarily increase because of the uneven distribution of stress. The steel bar diameter had the most significant influence on the ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen, while the grouting material strength had the most negligible impact, that was, increasing the steel bar diameter is the most effective method to improve the ultimate bearing capacity of the specimen. Finally, according to the results of finite element analysis, the calculation method of ultimate bearing capacity with different failure modes was obtained, and it has been proved to be effective and accurate by the comparison of calculated results and test results. The results of this paper have great significance for improving the calculation theory and design method of relevant engineering.