Performance of reinforced self-consolidating concrete beam-column joints with headed bars subjected to pseudo-static cyclic loading

Abstract

Abstract With the growing use of headed bars in the RC beam-column joints to reduce reinforcement congestion in the joint region, more tests are needed to gain further insight into the behavior of these joints and perfect the related design codes. Given the limitations imposed in ACI318-14 on the type of concrete and the relative head area, which is the net bearing area of the head divided by the bar area, this study investigated the effect of these parameters by testing four interstory exterior joint specimens constructed at the 2 3 scale under cyclic loading. These tests investigated the compliance of the joints with the seismic criteria when: (1) the joint was made with the self-consolidating concrete instead of the normal one, and (2) the joint was designed with the relative head area set to 3 instead of 4. The results showed that the use of the self-consolidating concrete improved the seismic behavior of the joint and reducing the relative head area to 3 did not render the joint performance unacceptable.