Reinforced Concrete Beam-column Connections Research Articles

Seismic Response of RC Beam-Column Joints Strengthened with FRP ROPES, Using 3D Finite Element: Verification with Real Scale Tests

A 3D-finite element analysis within the numerical program ABAQUS is adopted in order to simulate the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete beam-column joints and beam-column joints strengthened with CFRP ropes. The suitability of the adopted approach is investigated herein. For this purpose, experimental and numerical cyclic tests were performed. The experiments include four reinforced concrete (RC) joints with the same ratio of shear closed-stirrup reinforcement and two different volumetric ratios of longitudinal steel reinforcing bars. Two joints were tested as-built, and the other two were strengthened with CFRP ropes. The ropes were applied as Near Surface Mounted (NSM) reinforcement, forming an X-shape around the joint body and further as flexural reinforcement at the top and bottom of the beam. The purpose of the externally mounted CFRP ropes is to allow the development of higher values of concrete principal stresses inside the joint core, compared with the specimens without ropes, and also to reduce the developing shear deformation in the joint. From the results, it is concluded that X-shaped ropes reduced the shear deformation in the joint body remarkably, especially in high drifts. Further, as a result of the comparisons between the yielded outcome from the attempted nonlinear analysis and the observed response from the tests, it is deduced that the adopted method sufficiently describes the whole behavior of the RC beam-column connections. In particular, comparisons between experimental and numerical results of principal stresses developing in the joint body of all examined specimens, along with similar comparisons of force displacement envelopes and shear deformations of the joint body, confirmed the adequacy of the applied finite element approach for the investigation of the use of CFRP-ropes as an efficient and easy-to-apply strengthening technique. The findings also reveal that the connections that have been strengthened with the FRP ropes demonstrated improved performance, and the crack system preserved its load capacity during the reversal loading tests.

Experimental investigation of the seismic resistance of RC beam–column connections after freeze–thaw cycle treatment

The freeze–thaw cycle (FTC) is one of the major factors leading to damage to reinforced concrete (RC) structures in severely cold regions. The seismic resistance of FTC-damaged RC beam–column connections is critical to the assessment of structural safety. However, studies on the seismic resistance of FTC-damaged RC beam–column connections under severely cold environments are still scarce. In this study, the seismic resistance of FTC-damaged RC connections was investigated in terms of the failure process, hysteresis, energy consumption, core area shear behavior, etc. Furthermore, the effects of FTC action at the microscopic level and macroscopic level and the damage mechanisms of the connections were investigated. The results showed that the shear force ratio of the connections varied via the “diagonal compression strut model” and “truss model” propagation due to the FTC-induced deterioration of the bond performance between the longitudinal rebar and concrete in the beam end; this variation in the shear force ratio, in turn, led to the transformation of the failure mode of the connections. Moreover, as the number of FTCs increased, the ductility of the connections increased slightly, and the shear distortion in the core region as well as its contribution to the whole displacement gradually rose. When the shear–compression ratio is >0.208, increasing the axial force ratio will reduce the load carrying capacity and the shear distortion in the core zone. Based on the test results, a calculation model of the shear force–strain envelope curve of RC connections that integrates the effects of the inhomogeneous temperature field distribution and axial compression ratio was established.

Evaluation Method for Ultimate Flexural State of Prestressed Precast Reinforced Concrete Beam–Column Connection with Debonded Partial Tendon

In this paper, a prestressed precast reinforced concrete (PC) beam–column connection incorporating posttensioned debonded partial tendons is introduced for PC frame structure. Compared with the conventional cast-in-place frames and many previously proposed connections for PC frames, this connection has the advantage of self-centering and low damage in strong earthquakes. In addition, the debonded partial tendons can reduce the posttensioning demand and further reduce site labor during construction and repair. In order to establish a performance evaluation method for the ultimate flexural limit of the proposed PC connection, an analytical model was developed to accurately reflect the deformation compatibility and force equilibrium conditions of the PC beam and column members, as well as the debonded partial tendons. Based on this, iterative and direct evaluation methods for the strength and deformation of the PC connections, as well as the strains of the debonded tendons, were developed. The proposed methods were verified by cyclic loading test on the beam–column connection subassemblages. It is concluded that the proposed method is sufficiently accurate and simple to be applied in engineering design, and is helpful to guarantee the self-centering and low-damage characteristics of the proposed connection against a strong earthquake.

Progressive collapse resistance of reinforced concrete beam-column connection under fire conditions

To reveal the reinforced concrete (RC) structural response under fire-induced progressive collapse scenarios, 3D finite element (FE) models were developed to investigate the effect of high temperatures on the collapse resisting mechanisms of RC beam-column connections. To describe the behavior of RC connections at elevated temperatures, temperature-dependent thermal and mechanical properties of concrete and reinforcing steel were adopted in the 3D FE model. The sequentially coupled thermal–mechanical analysis was performed with the explicit solver in a quasi-static manner. The concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) and ductile damage for metals (DDM) were adopted to better describe the failure of concrete and steel rebar, respectively. The proposed numerical model was validated by experimental data at different temperatures from literature. To understand better the collapse resistance of RC beam-column connections, a new loading scheme was adopted in the developed model. The load capacity of RC connection under fire conditions was investigated analytically and numerically. The effects of top and bottom reinforcement ratios, concrete strength, beam depth and fire severity on the collapse resisting mechanisms were investigated. The regulated chord rotation failure criteria recommended by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) were utilized and showed to be conservative on the collapse identification of RC structures under fire conditions.

Experimental Investigation of Exterior Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connections Subjected to Reversal Loading

Eight full-scale reinforced concrete beam-column subassemblages, 4 for each non-ductile and ductile detail, were tested under quasi-static cyclic loading. All test specimens were mainly designed for gravity service loads. Four specimens named as non-ductile connections were constructed with typical reinforcement details using in Thailand. The others were assembled with details described by the seismic design building code of Thailand, known as the 1301/1302-61 code. Their performance was examined in terms of lateral load resistance, ductility index, stiffness, energy dissipation, failure modes, including joint shear strength. The test results indicated that the specimens with ductile details achieved better seismic performance in every aspect, particularly specimens with adequate joint shear strength designed according to the SST method. The ductile details have no effect to retard the stiffness degradation in the elastic range, but helped to slow the rates of stiffness degradation after the specimens reached their peak loads. The transverse reinforcement in the joints was more efficient to enhance the ductility of joints with lower joint shear strengths (J1 and J2) than the sufficient joints (J3 and J4). Based on the SST method, the connections with low shear strength capacity, J1, J1D, J2, J2D, J3, and J4 suffered with severe joint shear failure (JS), although their beam sections reached the flexural moments. On the other hand, specimens with high joint shear strengths, J3D and J4D, experienced the beam failure (BF) with mild joint shear failure (JS). Test data also demonstrated that a specimen with lesser amount of joint reinforcement exhibited satisfactory seismic behavior, as long as the joint was provided with the adequate shear strength designed by the SST method. Finally, the ACI 318 Building Code overestimated the shear strength of exterior beam-column joints. Moreover, the simplified SST model much better predicted the demand joint shear strength than the ACI 318 Code.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 Numerous surveys of RC buildings after earthquakes also confirmed the inadequate detailing of beam-column joints such as presence of splices, lack of hoops, deficiency of beam bar anchorage, and no steel joint stirrups in the joint
 The ductile details have no effect to retard the stiffness degradation in the elastic range, but helped to slow the rates of stiffness degradation after the specimens reached their peak loads. The transverse reinforcement in the joints was more efficient to enhance the ductility of joints with lower joint shear strengths (J1 and J2) than the sufficient joints (J3 and J4)
 The ACI 318 Building Code overestimated the shear strength of exterior beam-column joints. Moreover, the simplified SST model much better predicted the demand joint shear strength than the ACI 318 Code
 Based on the SST method, the beam-column connections with low shear strength capacity, J1, J1D, J2, J2D, J3 and J4 suffered with severe joint shear failure (JS), although their beam sections reached the flexural moments. On the other hand, specimens with high joint shear strengths, J3D and J4D, experienced the beam failure (BF) with mild joint shear failure (JS)
 The deterioration of beam-column joints under seismic could be effectively restrained by the ductile details according to 1301/1302-61 code with adequate shear strength capacity determined by using the equation of SST model
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Distributed Fiber-Optic Strain Sensing of an Innovative Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connection.

Distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) technologies have been used for decades to detect damage in infrastructure. One recent DFOS technology, Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR), has attracted attention from the structural engineering community because its high spatial resolution and refined accuracy could enable new monitoring possibilities and new insight regarding the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The current research project explores the ability and potential of OFDR to measure distributed strain in RC structures through laboratory tests on an innovative beam–column connection, in which a partial slot joint was introduced between the beam and the column to control damage. In the test specimen, fiber-optic cables were embedded in both the steel reinforcement and concrete. The specimen was tested under quasi-static cyclic loading with increasing displacement demand at the structural laboratory of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center of UC Berkeley. Different types of fiber-optic cables were embedded both in the concrete and the rebar. The influence of the cable coating and cable position are discussed. The DFOS results are compared with traditional measurements (DIC and LVDT). The high resolution of DFOS at small deformations provides new insights regarding the mechanical behavior of the slotted RC beam–column connection, including direct measurement of beam curvature, rebar deformation, and slot opening and closing. A major contribution of this work is the quantification of the performance and limitations of the DFOS system under large cyclic strains. Performance is quantified in terms of non-valid points (which occur in large strains when the DFOS analyzer does not return a strain value), maximum strain that can be reliably measured, crack width that causes cable rupture, and the effect of the cable coating on the measurements. Structural damage indices are also proposed based on the DFOS results. These damage indices correlate reasonably well with the maximum sustained drift, indicating the potential of using DFOS for RC structural damage assessment. The experimental data set is made publicly available.

Effect of slab and transverse beam on the FRP retrofit effectiveness for existing reinforced concrete structures under seismic loading

The seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is critically influenced by the complex mechanical interactions at beam-column joints. To ensure the desired hierarchy of failure is achieved when retrofitting existing structures, numerical and experimental assessments need to represent realistic structures. A review of published literature indicates that most experimental work on the seismic behaviour pre-1970′s RC beam-column connections considers sub-assemblies without slabs or transverse beams, which are unrepresentative of reality. To evaluate the effect of these elements on the failure mechanism, retrofit need and retrofit effectiveness, experiments on four full-scale beam-column joints are carried out. Two specimens with and without slab and transverse beams, are tested in their as-built and FRP strengthened configurations. As expected, the experimental results demonstrate that the progression of damage and failure mechanisms differ significantly when slabs and transverse beams are present, confirming previous numerical and experimental evidence on the strong contribution of these elements on the overall joint behaviour. Moreover, a significantly higher retrofit effectiveness is observed for the specimen without slab and transverse beam. This implies that experiments on retrofitted joints without slab and transverse beam can lead to a focus on joint shear strengthening alone as they inadequately represent the hierarchy of strengths of the framing members. They can also lead to an overestimation of retrofit effectiveness. These observations have implications when considering common simplifying assumptions made in the numerical modelling of RC moment resisting frames when assessing their seismic performance.

Behavior of Precast Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connection by Double Straight Notch Models under Lateral Cyclic Loading

Behavior of Precast Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connection by Double Straight Notch Models under Lateral Cyclic Loading

Experimental and analytical assessment of different anchorage systems used for CFRP flexurally retrofitted exterior RC beam-column connections

The current study presents the results of an experimental program on the application of carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites to improve the lateral strength capacity of exterior reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections. In such connections, the CFRP composites are bonded onto the top and bottom sides of the beam; however, the presence of the column restricts continuation of FRP composites beyond the end critical sections at the column interface. To provide continuity for composites across the joint, four different anchorage systems have been evaluated through experiments on five half-scale RC connections, comprising an as-built and four retrofitted ones, under reversed cyclic loading. The experimental results demonstrated the superior performance of 180-degree anchor fan among all the tested anchorage systems, leading to a complete plastic hinge relocation along the beam from the column face. Analytical investigation employing a fiber section (FS) modelling approach was also performed and the results validated against the experimental ones. The verified model was then exploited to investigate the effect of FRP composites length along the beam on the structural behavior of RC beam-column connections.

Joint shear strength models for exterior RC beam-column connections exposed to biaxial and uniaxial cyclic loading

Joint shear strength models available in the literature can predict the shear strength for reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections exposed to uniaxial cyclic loading, while an accurate biaxial joint shear strength model is still lacking. Gene expression programming (GEP) is used in this research to develop uniaxial and biaxial joint shear strength models for exterior RC beam-to-column connections exposed to uniaxial and biaxial cyclic loading respectively. The GEP models are developed based on an experimental database available in the literature, where the models are randomly trained and tested. Uniaxial joint shear strength is also predicted using the ACI 352 and ASCE 41 formulations for connections exposed to uniaxial cyclic loading. The performance of the GEP models is statistically evaluated using the coefficient of determination R-squared. The R-squared values are 79%, 79%, 95% and 93% for the ACI, ASCE, uniaxial GEP and biaxial GEP models, respectively. The R-squared values of the GEP models are high, which confirms their accuracy and indicates that they are more fitting to the experimental results than the ACI and ASCE formulations.

RC Beam–Column Connections Retrofitted by Steel Prop: Experimental and Analytical Studies

This paper studies the efficiency of a proposed retrofit technique to boost the seismic behavior of beam–column connections in existing deficient reinforced concrete (RC) moment frame systems with the consideration of constraint conditions such as the height of beams, using analytical, experimental, and numerical methods. The proposed retrofit method, called the “single steel prop and curbs”, consists of a diagonal steel prop element and two steel curbs that to the beam and column are laterally mounted. The internal force diagrams of the retrofitted exterior beam–column connections by analytical formulations are investigated and design strategies for promoting the efficiency of the single steel prop to achieve the expected efficiency proposed. To assay the validity and reliability of the proposed analytical procedure, experimental and numerical assessments were also conducted independently. Therefore, four deficient RC beam–column connections by single steel prop were retrofitted using three different cross-sectional areas and revival sheets and then accompanied by a control specimen subjected to cyclic loading. Next, numerical models were calibrated in ABAQUS software. Finally, by derivation of the props’ average axial force from experimental and numerical results, the beam shear coefficient, β, is calculated based on the analytical relations. These results confirmed good conformity between the experimental and numerical outputs as well as reliability of the analytical formulations. Also, the output results indicated that the retrofitted specimens had 53–78% bearing capacity and 146–217% dissipated energy more than the control specimen.

Seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete strong beam–weak column joints using EBROG method combined with CFRP anchorage system

Beam-column assemblies of many existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings are typically designed and built before the development of the current seismic codes; that may permanently fail in non-ductile behaviors, including column flexural hinging or joint shear failure mode, during ground motions. The current experimental research, therefore, was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of newly proposed rehabilitation schemes in retrofitting of deficient RC beam-column connections using fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs). To do so, five half-scale exterior beam-column joints were constructed and tested under constant axial and reversal-cyclic lateral loadings. The joint specimens were designed with strong beam-weak column theory and insufficient transverse reinforcement in the joint region. Of these, four specimens were strengthened with CFRP sheets and the remaining specimen was used as a control. In the strengthening patterns, to eliminate any surface debonding of FRP, the recently developed externally bonded reinforcement on grooves (EBROG) method was used. Besides, CFRP anchor fans were employed in the beam-column interface to completely anchor the longitudinal FRP sheets and also transfer the forces between the beam and the column. The test results showed that the adopted strengthening schemes successfully prevented the brittle failure of the specimens and were able to provide a more ductile mechanism by relocating the plastic hinge away from the weak column and the joint zone toward the beam. Furthermore, a significant enhancement was observed for specimens in terms of their strength, ductility and energy dissipation up to 73%, 139%, 144%, respectively. Additionally, the EBROG technique together with the CFRP fans at the interface of the beam-column joints eliminated any debonding or slipping of the longitudinal CFRPs.

Strengthening of seismically deficient exterior beam-column connections using embedded steel bars

Several techniques for improving performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column (BC) connections have been developed in last two decades, but these techniques have been criticized for being labourintensive and susceptible to premature de-bonding. To overcome these shortcomings, a novel technique utilising embedded steel bars has been developed in this study for strengthening seismically deficient RC BC connections. This technique involves drilling holes within the joint core. After the drilled holes are cleaned, they are partially filled with epoxy. Finally, steel bars are inserted in the epoxy-filled holes. Two exterior BC connections were constructed and loaded under displacement-controlled cyclic loading. The first specimen was a control specimen designed in accordance with the pre-1970s building codes to represent BC connections requiring strengthening. The second specimen was strengthened with eight 8 mm steel bars embedded within the concrete core in the joint area and epoxied to maintain the bond between the concrete and the steel bars. The strengthened specimen had superior performance compared to that of the control specimen in terms of joint shear stress, normalised principal tensile stress demand and stiffness degradation. The results show that shear stress of the joint was enhanced by about 8% whereas the enhancement in the principal tensile stress demand was 24% compared to that of the control specimen. The results showed that the proposed technique is capable in upgrading the seismic performance of seismically deficient RC BC connections.

Strengthening of precast RC beam-column connections for progressive collapse mitigation using bolted steel plates

Being one of the most critical scenarios in extreme events such as blast attacks, the progressive collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) structures has attracted the attention of structural engineering community. As precast concrete buildings are deficient in structural continuity, they are more vulnerable to progressive collapse than cast-in-situ RC buildings. Hence, effective rehabilitation techniques to upgrade beam-column joints in existing precast RC buildings for progressive collapse mitigation are needed. The goal of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of using bolted steel plates on the behavior of precast beam-column connections under sudden column-loss scenario. This study presents experiments involving one half-scale precast RC beam-column assembly, which represented the most prevalent types of existing precast beam-column joints in Saudi Arabia. One monolithic test specimen having continuity of top and bottom beam rebars was used for the sake of comparison. Another precast specimen similar to the control one was strengthened using bolted steel plates within the connection region. The progressive collapse scenario was simulated by removing the central column support and applying a sudden vertical load on this column at a rate of 100 mm/s until failure. The collapse load of both monolithic and strengthened specimens was predicted using a simplified section analysis procedure. The analysis was then used for some useful parametric studies in which the effect of different steel plate parameters on the response of test frames under middle column-loss scenario was investigated.

Sustainable RC Beam-Column Connections with Headed Bars: A Formula for Shear Strength Evaluation

Beam-column joints are critical regions for reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to earthquakes. The steel reinforcement is, in general, highly concentrated in these zones. This is why in many cases, headed bars are used. A headed bar is a longitudinal steel reinforcement whose end has a special button added to reduce the bonding length of the steel rebar. This paper establishes a formula predicting the shear strength of exterior RC beam-column connections where the beam longitudinal reinforcements use headed bars. A database was collected, which contained 30 experimental data about the exterior beam-column joints using headed bars and subjected to quasi-static cyclic loading. First, from the collected database, a statistical study was carried out to identify the most influencing parameters on the shear strength of the beam-column joints tested. The three most important parameters were identified and an empirical modified formula was developed based on the formula existing in the standards. The study showed that the results obtained from the modified formula proposed in the present study were closer to the experimental results than that obtained from the formula existing in the standards. Finally, a numerical study was performed on two T-form RC structures and the numerical results were compared with the prediction calculated from the modified formula proposed. For two investigated cases, the proposed formula provided the results in the safety side and the differences with the numerical results were less than 20%. Thus, the proposed formula can be used for a rapid assessment of the shear strength of RC joints using headed bars.

Estimating the Seismic Performance of CFRP-Retrofitted RC Beam-Column Connections Using Fiber-Section Analysis

ABSTRACTOver the past two decades, many experimental techniques have been developed to improve the efficiency of the externally-bonded fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) in order to improve the structural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections. Numerical analysis is also being used as a cost-effective tool to predict the experimental results and to further investigate the parameters that are beyond the scope and capacity of experimental tests. In this study, at first, a fiber-section modeling approach is developed for estimating the seismic behavior of RC beam-column connections before and after application of FRP retrofits. The accuracy of the analysis results were validated against a series of the available experimental data under both monotonic and cyclic loadings. It was pointed out that the proposed model can predict the strength and displacement of un-retrofitted and FRP-retrofitted RC beam-column connections up to the failure points. The verified model was then used to perform a parametric study pertaining to the effect of longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the efficiency of the adopted FRP retrofitting technique to improve the structural behavior of RC beam-column connections.

고장력 철근이 적용된 철근콘크리트 보-기둥 접합부 파괴모드에 대한 실험적 연구

Behavior of RC(Reinforced-concrete) beam-column connections has been subjected to the earthquake loading has been determined by shear and attachment mechanism. However, since the shear and attachment are very fragile for cycle loadings. Through occurring plastic hinges at the beam, the column and the connection should remain elastic condition and the beam should dissipate the energy from the earthquake. This study was investigate on the seismic performance of 6 RC beam - column connections built with the high strength reinforcements (700MPa) based on design and detailing requirements in the ACI 318-05 Provision and KCI-07 appendix II. This is aimed to evaluate the effect of the high-strength reinforcements as used the beam-column connection members. The main comparisons were the seismic performance of the connections affect the seismic performance in terms of strength, stiffness and ductility, joint shear stress-strain. A total of 6 beam-column specimens were built with a 1/2 scale and subjected to the cyclic loadings. Main design considerations were the area of the longitudinal reinforcements of the beam and details of the beam-column joint designed based on the seismic code. Cyclic test results are given and recommendations for the usage of high strength reinforcements for the seismic design is provided.

Influence Factors for the Shear Strength of Exterior and Interior Reinforced Concrete Beam-column Joints

This paper investigates the key influence factors for the shear strength of both exterior and interior reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints. A database of totally 172 experimental RC beam-column connections constructed using the published literature was used in the analysis. Based on the database, the correlation coefficient (CC) between the considered parameters and the tested joint shear strength was computed, and the important level of these parameters was quantified. Results of the analysis showed that five key parameters for the joint shear strength included (1) the concrete compressive strength, (2) the vertical joint shear reinforcement, (3) the beam bars detail index, (4) the horizontal joint shear reinforcement and (5) the column axial stress. Among the influence factors, the concrete compressive strength had the most significant correlation to the joint shear strength and interestingly its correlation was higher for the interior connections with CC = 0.8 compared to CC = 0.69 for the exterior connections. For the remaining factors, the analysis conversely showed that their correlations to the joint shear strength of exterior joint were stronger than that of the interior joint.

Numerical Investigation on the Seismic Retrofitting of RC Beam–Column Connections Using Flange-Bonded CFRP Composites

This paper evaluated the capability of nonlinear finite-element (FE) analysis to estimate the seismic responses of reinforced concrete (RC) beam–column connections retrofitted using externally bonded carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP). As the case studies, a series of the seismically detailed scaled-down (1/2.85) specimens tested previously under either monotonic or cyclic loading were selected and nonlinear FE models were developed to regenerate the experimental results. In order to mimic the practical application in the experimental program the CFRP composites were applied on the top and bottom (flange) sides of the beam with the aim of increasing the flexural strength. The nonlinear FE analyses were performed to consider material and geometric nonlinearity whereas the material properties were obtained from the standard experimental tests on the concrete and steel reinforcements. The accuracy of the numerical results was evaluated by comparing results with those obtained from the experimental tests in terms of the load-displacement curve and failure mechanism. A good agreement was observed between the numerical and experimental results, particularly in estimating the ultimate strength and plastic hinge location of control and retrofitted specimens. Results indicated the reliability of the suggested nonlinear FE analysis as a cost-effective tool for parametric studies of RC beam–column connections retrofitted using flange-bonded CFRP.

Development of a nonlinear FE modelling approach for FRP-strengthened RC beam-column connections

This paper reports on a numerical attempt toward developing a nonlinear finite element (FE) modelling approach to predict the inelastic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections retrofitted using externally bonded fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The reliability of the modelling approach and analysis results is verified against a series of experimental tests conducted in the current study and available in the literature. These tests implemented two retrofitting schemes including web- and flange-bonded configurations; commonly used for retrofitting of the beam-column joints. The retrofitting method in all adopted experimental tests is aimed at relocating the plastic hinges away from the column face further into the beam. The FE results are compared with the experimental findings in terms of load–displacement curves, failure modes, and plastic hinge locations. A good agreement is observed between the FE results and experimental observations. It is concluded that the proposed FE analysis can be reliably used as a cost-effective tool to predict the elastic and inelastic behaviour of FRP retrofitted RC beam-column connection and to investigate the effect of parameters that are beyond the scope of the experimental tests.