Experimental investigation of RCS connections performance using self-consolidated concrete

The cyclic behavior of RCS connection consisted of Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns and Steel (S) beams is studied in this paper. Two interior connections are investigated experimentally. The joint of the first specimen is designed according to ASCE 1994 guideline, while the second specimen has a new proposed joint detail. Self-consolidating concrete is used in both specimens. Self-consolidating concrete could improve constructability of the congested joint of RCS frames. The specimens detail include steel band plates, face bearing plates, L-shaped joint stirrups, and steel doubler plate for the panel zone. The proposed joint detail consists of additional bearing plates, which cause an increase in bearing & joint shear strength. Based on the experimental results, the behavior of both specimens was ductile and maintained their strength at high story drifts. This means that, RCS frames can be used in high seismic zones. By comparing the performance of two specimens, it is observed that using additional bearing plates, increases bearing and shear strength of the joint. Additionally, the inelastic force-deformation response of both specimens is simulated using the OpenSees software by taking into consideration the joint shear and beating distortions. A modified method for modeling this type of connection is introduced and verified with experimental results. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.