REINFORCED-CONCRETE ECCENTRIC BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS SUBJECTED TO EARTHQUAKE-TYPE LOADING

Test results for four reinforced concrete eccentric beam-column connections subjected to reversed cyclic loading are reported. The specimens were part of an experimental program designed to investigate the effect of torsion, induced by earthquake motions, in eccentric frame connections. The major design parameters varied in the specimens were the beam width, the beam depth, and the amounts of top and bottom longitudinal reinforcement in the beam. From the test results, it was concluded that the presence of eccentricity in the joint reduced the strength of the connection to the extent that none of the specimens were able to attain their predicted story shear strength. To account adequately for the effect of torsion, a new equation for the effective joint width to estimate the nominal joint shear strength is proposed.