Repairable Precast Moment-Resisting Buildings: Part I-Experimental Investigations

A new moment-resisting precast connection incorporating replaceable bars was developed in the present work through experimental and analytical studies. The research findings are presented in a two-part manuscript. In Part 1, the structural performance of the proposed repairable precast connection was investigated through cyclic testing of four half-scale beam-column specimens. A reference cast-in-place (CIP) specimen was also included for comparison. The repairable precast specimen withstood 6% drift ratio with an insignificant damage. The repair-by-replacement technique was successfully practiced twice. In Part II, a comprehensive analytical study was performed to investigate the seismic performance of CIP and repairable precast frames. It was found that repairable precast frames up to seven stories tall with the same beam and column geometries and reinforcement as those in CIP will satisfy all all code requirements and will exhibit signfficantly better structural performance compared with CIP. Based on the experimental and analytical studies, the proposed precast connection detailing is expected to improve the seismic performance of buildings, to expedite the construction, and to eliminate the need of building total replacement after severe earthquakes. The experimental program of the study and the findings are discussed herein.