Seismic behaviour of a precast prestressed beam-column joint with energy dissipation bars

A novel precast prestressed (PCPS) reinforced-concrete (RC) beam-column joint with unbonded energy dissipation (ED) bars was developed for a moment-resisting frame structure. Three full-size beam-column joints were designed and tested under reverse cyclic loading to investigate their seismic performance. The experimental results showed that the PCPS beam-column joints had competitive load-carrying capacities and larger initial stiffnesses than the RC beam-column joint. The post-tensioned joint with ED bars located at the column showed better ED capacity than the joint with ED bars located at the beam ends, which had an ED capacity that was comparable with the RC joint. Finite-element models of the three test specimens were established using OpenSees to replicate the experimental results. Analysis of the test and numerical simulation results showed that the proposed beam-column joints could have better seismic performance with the addition of devices to prevent the concrete in the beam ends from early cracking and spalling. The PCPS beam-column joints with ED bars demonstrated good seismic performance under reverse cyclic loading.