Plated RC beam-column joints under cyclic loading

This article presents the experimental results from a two-dimensional RC beam-column joint retrofit under cyclic loads. Two steel plates were glued to the lateral surfaces of the beams and passed continuously through the beam-column joint. Some of the steel plates were bolted or stiffened with steel strips. An engineering applicable analytical model was proposed to predict the strength of the specimens. The specimens retrofitted only with plates tended to fail in brittle modes. However, the use of stiffening devices successfully improved the strength, stiffness and energy dissipation. Additionally, the strength rehabilitation (SRI) and ductility rehabilitation indices (DRI) were developed to estimate the strength and ductility decay of rehabilitated elements subjected to earthquake loads. The test results verified the suitability of these two indices.