Abstract
This paper presents the results of a test program conducted on interior beam-column connections cast from high strength concrete and designed to exhibit joint shear mechanism under earthquake simulated loads. The investigation focused on the seismic shear characteristics of the joint core and covered joints reinforced with conventional ties as well as joints reinforced with only steel fibers. Low compression are applied on columns in order to simulate the combined effects of overturning moment, produced by the horizontal acceleration, and the vertical component of earthquake excitation. Test findings indicate that defining the joint shear strength as a function of the square root of the concrete compressive strength as adopted by the current ACI-318 code seems to be unsuitable approach for joints constructed with high strength concrete. Decrease in the range of about 45 percent in the joint deformability was observed due to reinforcing the joint core with steel fibers only.
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