NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF BEAM COLUMN JOINTS CONTAINING FRP BARS AND WIRE MESH ARRANGEMENTS

Abstract

This research paper aims at a detailed study of the seismic performance of reinforced concrete Beam-Column Joint (BCJ) under quasi-static cyclic loading. Firstly, the numerical simulations of the previously experimented specimen have been performed by Finite Element Method (FEM) using ABAQUS 6.14. Secondly, the parametric study has been conducted for the validated model by the introduction of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars in the form of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP). An investigation has also been carried out to study the effect of T-304 Stainless Steel Wire Mesh (SSWM) on the strengthening of the finite element numerical model. Ten different numerical models were evaluated which included two sets, the first set includes five models having a control model and the models in which the steel reinforcement was partially or full replaced by CFRP and GFRP bars, the next set contains further five models in which stainless-steel wire mesh was wrapped around the core concrete in the aforementioned models. The results show the evidence for GFRP bars to be used in seismic designing, as have shown an almost 100% increase in deflection with the requisite amount of energy dissipation and ultimate strength capacities. Furthermore, the crack initiation was delayed by 30-40% in terms of deflection when stainless-steel wire mesh was used which controls the damage in the critical zone of BCJ. The prime factors in controlling the crack pattern, energy dissipation, ultimate strength and deflection capacity of beam-column joint were the position of FRP bars, reinforcement ratio, dimensions of beam-column joints and the available economy.