Experimental research on seismic behavior of novel composite RCS joints

Results from an experimental study on the seismic response of six composite reinforced concrete column-to-steel beam interior joints are presented. The primary variable investigated is the details in the joint. For the basic specimen, the main subassemblies of the beam and column are both continuous, and the steel beam flanges extended to the joint are partly cut off. Transverse beam, steel band plates, cove plates, X shape reinforcement bars and end plates are used in the other five specimens, respectively. After the joint steel panel yielded, two failure modes were observed during the test: local failure in Specimens 1, 2 and 4, shear failure in Specimens 3, 5 and 6. Specimens 6, 3, 5 and 4 have a better strength and deformation capacity than the other two specimens for the effectiveness of their subassemblies. For Specimens 2 and 4, though the performance of strength degradation and stiffness degradation are not as good as the other four specimens, they all have excellent energy dissipation capacity comparing to the RC joint, or the Steel Reinforced Concrete (SRC) joint. Based on the test result, some suggestions are presented for the design of composite RCS joint.