Seismic Performance of Precast Concrete Exterior Beam-Column Joint with Disc Spring Devices

ABSTRACT

To improve the seismic performance of precast concrete reinforced frame structures which are widely used worldwide, and enable a certain repairable function for the precast structure after an earthquake, this paper proposes a new type of precast concrete frame joint using a full grouting sleeve connection with a disc spring device. The disc spring device was connected in series to the longitudinal reinforcement located in the plastic hinge zone at the beam end to provide a restoring force and protect the concrete. Six exterior beam-column joints consisting of one cast-in-situ beam-column joint and five precast concrete frame joints, using a fully grouted sleeve connection equipped with or without a disc spring device, were designed and fabricated. The failure process, hysteretic characteristics, and energy dissipation capacity of the joint specimens were analyzed based on reversed cyclic loading test. The results showed that the energy dissipation and seismic performance of the newly precast concrete joints equipped with the disc spring device were better than those of the precast concrete frame joints connected by ordinary grouting sleeves without a disc spring device. The disc spring device proposed in this study plays a similar role as a damper in the precast joint during loading and has the characteristics of concentrated damage as it transfers part of the damage in the joint core area to the built-in disc spring area at the beam end. Additionally, the deformation of the precast joints under a lateral seismic load was theoretically calculated, the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results.

KEYWORDS:

• Precast structure
• exterior beam-column joint
• disc spring device
• theoretical calculation model
• seismic design

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52178106), Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar in Shaanxi Province (No. 2021JC-26), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (No. 300102281303).

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data Availability Statement

All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 52178106]; Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar in Shaanxi Province [Grant No. 2021JC-26]; and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD [Grant No. 300102281303].