The structural performance and cyclic behaviour of reinforced-concrete wide beam-column joints are studied by computational simulations with Abaqus. Seven RC beam-column joint specimens with the same column sizes but different beam widths or beam depths are simulated. The joints are detailed according to EC2 [1] and EC8 [2] for gravity and moderate seismic loads. Transverse beams are reinforced with a minimum amount of longitudinal reinforcement and links.

Implicit finite element analyses are conducted, where concrete and steel reinforcement is modelled with 8-node 3-D solid elements and 2-node 3-D truss elements, respectively. The studies focus on the effects of beam widths and beam depths on the load transfer paths. It is shown that, compared with conventional joints, lesse...[ Read more ]

The structural performance and cyclic behaviour of reinforced-concrete wide beam-column joints are studied by computational simulations with Abaqus. Seven RC beam-column joint specimens with the same column sizes but different beam widths or beam depths are simulated. The joints are detailed according to EC2 [1] and EC8 [2] for gravity and moderate seismic loads. Transverse beams are reinforced with a minimum amount of longitudinal reinforcement and links.

Implicit finite element analyses are conducted, where concrete and steel reinforcement is modelled with 8-node 3-D solid elements and 2-node 3-D truss elements, respectively. The studies focus on the effects of beam widths and beam depths on the load transfer paths. It is shown that, compared with conventional joints, lesser crack opening occurs in wide beam-column connections; hence less pinched hysteresis loops are observed. In this numerical study, beam width is observed to have a significant contribution in controlling the seismic performance of a joint, since it has a significant influence on the load transfer paths in wide beams and the corresponding joint cores. Beam depth is found to play a less important role in altering the load transfer path, but it could also affect the seismic performance of the joint. The simulated results also indicate that joint shear stress in wide beam-column connections is higher than that of conventional ones.