Experimental Study on Two Simple Mechanical Precast Beam-Column Connections under Reverse Cyclic Loading

This paper presents the experimental investigation of one-third-scale precast concrete beam-column connections subjected to reverse cyclic loading. The precast specimen and monolithic specimen were designed for the same strength. For the first precast connection, the beam is connected to the column with corbel using a cleat angle with a single stiffener, and for the second precast connection, cleat angle with two stiffeners was used. The subassemblage specimens have been subjected to cyclic displacement controlled lateral loading, applied at the end of the beam. The ultimate load-carrying capacity, load ratio, hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation, equivalent viscous damping ratio, ductility factor, and strength degradation of both the precast and monolithic specimens were measured, and their performance was compared. The results showed that ultimate load-carrying capacity of the monolithic specimen was superior to that of both the precast specimens. The precast specimens were found to exhibit satisfactory behavior compared with the monolithic specimen in terms of energy dissipation and ductility.