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KEYWORDS Abstract The variation of reinforcement details, connement and joints angle are considerable fac-
Opening joints; tors which affect the ultimate limit moment of joints and joints efciency. The variation of joint size
Closing joints; is another factor that signicantly affects the ultimate limit moment of joints and frame joints ef-
Joints details; ciency. These previous factors were not considered in design. Corners may be subjected to closing
Joints connement; moments, which subject to tensile stresses in the outside of the corner, or to opening moments,
Joints size; which cause tensile stresses in the inside of the corner. The last type of moments arise more detailing
Joints angle problems. Opening joints may be found in retaining walls water tanks, open channels, bridge abut-
ments, high rises due to wind effect, frame structures, etc. in the other hand the closing joint may be
found in two hinged and xed frames and underground water tanks. Hence two types of joints
should be compared.
The presented paper introduces an experimental and analytical study in order to investigate the
effect of reinforcement details, connement, joints size, joints angle on the frame joints efciency
and comparison between closing joints and opening joints. Experimentally, a total of eleven
specimens were tested under vertical load. All specimens were tested up to failure and the behaviour
was fully monitored. Moreover, a nonlinear 3D-nite element analysis was established using
ABAQUS program and veried with the experimental results in order to give design recommenda-
tions for those structural elements.
2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Housing and Building National Research
Center. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hbrcj.2014.11.009
1687-4048 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Housing and Building National Research Center.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
148 M. Nabil et al.
The reinforcement should be placed in such a way that the loads. The tensile stress ry causes a diagonal crack across the
joints meet the following fundamental requirements: corner, which results a sudden failure, unless a sufcient steel
reinforcement is provided to resist these stresses. Fig. 1b shows
(a) The joint should be capable of resisting a moment at the tensile stress distribution across the joint section, which
least as large as the calculated failure moment in the may be considered to be parabolically distributed.
adjacent cross sections, because it does not limit the load After cracking has occurred, the behaviour of the corner can
carrying capacity of the frame. be studied with the aid of truss models, a typical model being
(b) If the rst requirement is not met, then the reinforce- shown in Fig. 1c. In a truss model, the reinforcement is
ment layout in the joint should accommodate the neces- regarded as tension bars while the compression zones are
sary ductility, so that the force redistribution will be regarded as compression struts. The cooperation of concrete
possible without brittle failure of the joints. subjected to tensile stresses is demanded for the fulllment of
(c) The crack width of the corner should therefore be lim- equilibrium conditions. From the truss model in Fig. 1, it is evi-
ited to acceptable values of the working load level. dent that in the absence of a rational detailing system, the cor-
(d) The reinforcement details should be easy to be ner concrete has no ability to sustain the resultant diagonal
fabricated. tensile force and a premature brittle failure characterized by
low toughness and ductility is imminent. The detailing of the
The reinforced concrete joint fails due to several reasons as opening corner, therefore, plays the primary role in inuencing
diagonal tension crack, splitting crack, failure due to yielding the structural behaviour, complemented in turn by the tensile
of reinforcement, failure due to crushing of concrete and response of concrete. A number of detailing arrangements for
anchorage failure. opening corners have been proposed from time to time [1,2]
The state of stresses in joints, and corners, as calculated Park and Paulay [3] and Abdul-Wahab and Al-Roubai [4].
according to the theory of elasticity by Nilsson [1,2], is valid Kaushik and Singh [5] conducted an experimental study to
only before the occurrence of the cracking stage. After crack- evaluate the structural behaviour of opening corners. Four dif-
ing, (at the working stage), and at the ultimate stage, the joint ferent detailing systems were investigated. The parameters of
acts as a composite structure made of the reinforcement and investigation were: strength measured in terms of joint ef-
the concrete. The analysis of the last two stages is more com- ciency, ductility, crack control, and ease of reinforcement layout
plicated than that of the homogeneous bodies. In spite of the and fabrication facilitating effective placement of concrete in the
fact that, the results of the theory of elasticity are valid only member. It has been found that none of the detailing systems
prior to cracking, however they present some guidance of the investigated satised all the four parameters. A substantial
actual behaviour. Fig. 1a shows the stress distribution in a increase in post-cracking tensile strength, ductility and crack
frame corner subjected to opening moments along diagonal. control can be achieved by adding steel bres to the concrete.
The bending stress rx exhibits a peak at the inside surface of Park and Mosalam [6] carried out an experimental investi-
the corner, therefore the corner cracks occur at quite small gation of full-scale RC corner beam-column joints without
fy
M
fx
M
(a) Stress Along
Corner Diagonal
fy
M
fx
M
(b) Stress Across
Corner Section
Figure 1 Corner stresses.
Affecting aspects on the behaviour of frame joints 149
transverse reinforcement in the joint region leading to nonduc- (c) Studying the effect of joint connement by means of
tile behaviour in many exiting RC buildings. The experimental stirrups.
study considered two design parameters: joint aspect ratio and (d) Studying the effect of the joint size by increase thickness
beam longitudinal reinforcement ratio. Four corner beam-col- of the frame joint.
umn joint specimens were constructed with transverse beams (e) Studying the effect of the joint angle by change the joint
and oor slabs and tested under quasi-static cyclic loading. angle of the frame.
The specimens experienced joint shear failure without beam (f) Provide a comparison between behaviour of closing
hinging mechanism as a result of the absence of transverse joints and behaviour of opening joints.
reinforcement in the joint region. (g) Investigating the shape of failure at each case and its
Jawad and Assi [7] conducted an experimental and analyt- reason.
ical study to investigate the behaviour of reinforced concrete (h) Making a nal conclusion for the ideal detail of rein-
corner joints under monotonically increasing loads which tend forcement and type of connement joint based on the
to increase the right angle between the two joint members. The results obtained from the experimental and theoretical
effect of reinforcement details at the corner joint was studied studies.
for commonly used detailing systems, and the nonlinear
response was traced throughout the entire load range up to
failure. The results obtained were generally in good agreement Experimental work
with the experiments, and show that the detailing system had a
signicant effect on corner joint behaviour, with efciencies The experimental work of the present study consists of testing
ranging from as low as 54% up to 147%. eleven triangular reinforced concrete frames in ve groups of
Kaliluthin and Kothandaraman [8] carried out an experi- specimens with variable properties for each group. The rst
mental investigation on the reinforced concrete exterior group consists of four specimens. The second, third and fourth
beam-column joint was subjected to static load to investigate group consists of two specimens except the fth group has one
the existing RC beam column joints which are designed as specimen only.
per BIS 456-2000, which must be strengthened, since they do
not meet the requirement given in the ductility code IS Details of tested specimens
13920-1993 are inadequate and it needs to be upgraded regard-
ing the detailing of reinforcement an attempt has been made to
introduced an additional reinforcement called core reinforce- Each group will be studied and analysed under the effect
ments in the joint region to improve the reinforcement detail- of different previous variables. The frame F1 is the guide
ing pattern and strength behaviour to ensure good specimen and its result compared with others specimens
performance of the joint as well. Test results showed that the results for each group. Hence, Table 1 makes a compari-
use of core reinforcement reduced the damages in the joint son between their reinforcement, joint angle and
region and is one of the most effective techniques to improve dimensions.
the seismic resistance of RC structures.
The scope of this work can be summarized as follow: Group I
All specimens of this group F1F4 had the same rectangular
(a) Studying the general deformational behaviour of this cross-section dimensions with 150 mm width and 250 mm
type of structures. thickness, with the same joint angle (90) and no stirrups in
(b) Studying the effect of using different types of reinforce- joints except specimen F4 had joint stirrups. The variable
ment details inside the frame joint. between these group specimens was the joint steel details by
Dimensions Joint
Specimen Main Stirrups Joint
Group Angle
No. width Thick. RFT Hangers Stirrups
degree
mm mm
F1 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 ----
F2 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 ----
Group I
F3 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 ----
F4 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 108/m'
F5 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 108/m'
Group II
F6 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 108/m'
F7 150 350 90 3 16 2 10 ----
Group III
F8 150 450 90 4 16 2 10 ----
F9 150 250 60 2 16 2 10 ----
Group IV
F10 150 250 120 2 16 2 10 ----
Group V F11 150 250 90 2 16 2 10 ----
150 M. Nabil et al.
2 10
0.25
2 16
0.15
10 2 Typical
2 10 Cross Section
16 2
2 16
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
2 10
0.25
2 16
2 16 0.15
2 Typical
10
2 10 Cross Section
16 2
2 16
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
changing the shape as loop shape detail, cross shape detail and Group III
other details, as shown in Figs. 25. All specimens of this group F1, F7 and F8 had the same joint
angle (90), steel details and no stirrups in joints. The variable
Group II between these group specimens was the joint size by changing
All specimens of this group F1, F5 and F6 had the same rect- the thickness of specimens more than frame F1, as shown in
angular cross-section dimensions with 150 mm width and Figs. 8 and 9.
250 mm thickness, with the same joint angle (90) and steel
details. The variable between these group specimens was the Group IV
joint connement by means of stirrups and changing the shape All specimens of this group F1, F9 and F10 had the same rect-
of stirrups as radial stirrups shape and crossing stirrups shape, angular cross-section dimensions with 150 mm width and
as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 respectively. 250 mm thickness, steel details and no stirrups in joints. The
Affecting aspects on the behaviour of frame joints 151
2
10 10
2 2
16 16
2
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
Group V
10 2
10 All specimens of this group F1 and F11 had the same rectan-
2
16 2 gular cross-section dimensions with 150 mm width and
2 16 250 mm thickness, with the same joint angle and no stirrups
in joints. The study of the fth group is to compare between
closing and opening joints, as shown in Fig. 12.
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
Material properties
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
2 10
0.25
2 16
10 2
2 10 0.15
16 2 Typical
2 16 Cross Section
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
2 10
0.25
2 16
0.15
10 2
10 Typical
2
16 2 Cross Section
2 16
2 10 2 16 2 16 2 10
0.96
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
10 2
2 10 2 10
16 3
3 16
0.35
3 16
2 10 3 16 2 10
0.15
1.01
10 8/m 10 8/m
F7 3 16
Cross Section
1.85
8 mm diameter were used as stirrups. The properties of the electrical strain gauges, with 120-ohm resistance xed on the
tested steel are listed in Table 3. steel bars before casting, using special glue, and then covered
with a water proong material to protect them. Deections
Test setup and loading scheme of the different points of the frames were measured using ten
deectometers. The data acquisitions were used in the mea-
The two supports of each frame were roller, and hinged sup- surements of strains and deection and corresponding acting
ports. The frames were tested in the hydraulic jack of load on tested specimen. Figs. 15 and 16 show general arrange-
300 kN capacity. Figs. 13a, 13b, 14a and 14b show the test ment for deectometer and electrical strain gauges for frames.
setup for different frames. Before testing the frames, a calibra-
tion was done for hydraulic jack by using a calibration ring in Test procedure
order to control the load on the frames during the tests. The eleven frames were tested using an incremental static load-
ing procedure. The load was applied at the top of the frame.
Measuring devices An incremental load of about 1015% of the ultimate load
The strains of concrete were measured using electrical strain was applied, during a period of about 60 s. This load was kept
gauge with 120 ohm resistance xed on the extreme compres- constant for about 30 min during each increment, while the
sion bre. The strains in steel bars were measured using readings were being taken.
Affecting aspects on the behaviour of frame joints 153
10 2 2 10
2 10
16 4
4 16
0.45
2 10 2 10
4 16
10 8/m 4 16 10 8/m
1.05
0.15
F8
Cross Section
1.85
2 10
2 10 2 10
0.25
10 8/m 10 8/m
2 16
0.15
1.52
Typical
Cross Section
10
2
2
10
16
2
2
16
1.85
2 10
0.25
10 2
10 2 16
2
0.15
16 2 Typical
2 16
Cross Section
2 10
2 10
0.62
10 8/m 10 8/m
2 16 2 16
1.85
2
2 16 16
16
2
0.25
2
10
10
2
2 10
0.15 2 10 2 10
0.96
2 16 2 16
10 8/m 10 8/m
1.85
these frames. Table 4 shows the cracking load at which the rst
Table 2 Mix properties for the used concrete (by weight).
crack appeared and the failure load at which the deection
Cement Sand Gravel Water/cement increases although the load is constant for the tested frames.
1.0 1.7 3.5 0.57 Figs. 1727 show the general crack patterns for the tested
frames.
From Table 4 and Figs. 1727, the following remarks could
be concluded:
Table 3 Mechanical properties of steel reinforcement.
For the rst group, the different steel reinforcement details
Nominal diameter (mm) 8 10 16
Actual diameter (mm) 8 10.5 16.7
of frames F1F3 and F4 as shown in Figs. 25, affect the
Yield stress (N/mm2) 245 363 365 crack patterns, cracking load and failure load. The loop
Ultimate stress (N/mm2) 365 521 522 detail of steel with additional two horizontal bars at the ten-
Maximum elongation (%) 0.42 0.37 0.39 sion side of frame F2 joint improved the cracking behaviour
Reduce in area (%) 72% 65% 60% and increase the cracking and failure loads of this frame
compared with other tested frames in the rst group [9].
Either the crack patterns of frames F1 and F3 almost sim-
Experimental results ilar. On the other hand, the behaviour of frame F4 showed
that, the cracking and failure load is very low compared
Crack patterns, cracking loads and failure loads with the other tested frames in this group, the cracks devel-
oped quickly, and the frame failed in tension with a very
For the tested eleven frames, the cracks started from the lower wide crack width. This is due to the fact that, frame F4
surface of the frame joint (tension side). These cracks devel- had extremely poor detailing. Table 4 shows that, the crack-
oped and propagated towards the upper surface of the frame ing loads of frames F1F4 were 14 kN, 15.0 kN, 14.2 kN
joint, (the compression side), except frame F11, the cracks and 13.0 kN respectively. In additional, the ratios between
propagated towards the lower surface. At further load failure loads of frames F2F4 and failure load of guide
increments, other cracks appeared at the inclined beams of frame F1 were 1.26, 1.17 and 0.58 respectively. This may
Loading Head of
Tested Machine Load Cell
P
0.96
Loading Head of
Tested Machine
Load Cell
0.96
P
Hinge Rigid Floor Rollar
0.20 0.20
1.65
1.85
9 Co 8
nc
in
ra
re
St
te
St
te
re
ra
nc
in
Co
St
in
ee
tra
l St
lS
ra
ee
in
St
1
1.
08
40
0.
40
0.
3 2
7 6
40
0.
40
0.
0.
10
10
0.
0.
25
5 4
10
0.08
35
0.
35
0.
Figure 15 General arrangement for deectometer and electrical strain gauges for frames F1F10.
9 8
St
in ee
ra l
l St St
ra
ee in
St
Co
in
nc
ra
re
St
te
te
St
re
ra
1
nc
in
Co
1.
08
0.
40
40
0.
3 2
0.
7 6
0.
40
25
40
0.
0.
10
10
0.
5 4
10
0.08
5
0.
3
35
0.
Figure 16 General arrangement for deectometer and electrical strain gauges for frame F11.
increased the joint capacity by 33%. This is due to the fact Deections and horizontal movements of the roller support
that, the tension steel is continuous around the corner of
joint (i.e., it is not lapped within the joint), in additional The experimental results of loaddeection curves at mid span
the diagonal tension formed in opening joint. (LVDT 1) and loadhorizontal movement of roller support
Affecting aspects on the behaviour of frame joints 157
Figure 17 General crack patterns of frame F1. Figure 20 General crack patterns of frame F4.
Figure 23 General crack patterns of frame F7. Figure 26 General crack patterns of frame F10.
Figure 24 General crack patterns of frame F8. Figure 27 General crack patterns of frame F11.
80
Load kN
70 F1
F2
60
F3
50
F4
40
30
20
10
Deecon mm
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
80 100
Load kN
70 F1 F1
60 F2 80
F7
Precentage of R %
F3
50 F8
F4
60
40
30
40
20
10
HZ.Movement mm 20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 Deecon mm
0
Figure 29 Experimental results of loadhorizontal movement of 0 10 20 30 40 50
roller support of the rst group.
Figure 32 Experimental results of factor (R)deection curves at
mid span of the third group.
80
Load kN
70 F1 100
60 F5 F1
F6 80
Precentage of R %
50 F7
40 60 F8
30
20 40
10
Deecom mm 20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 HZ. Movement mm
0
Figure 30 Experimental results of loaddeection curves at mid 0 20 40 60 80
span of the second group.
Figure 33 Experimental results of factor (R)horizontal move-
ment of roller support of the third group.
80
Load kN
70 F1 80
Load kN
60 F5 70 F1
F6
50 60
F9
40 50
F10
30 40
20 30
10 20
HZ. Movement mm 10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 Deecon mm
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Figure 31 Experimental results of loadhorizontal movement of
roller support of the second group. Figure 34 Experimental results of loaddeection curves at mid
span of the fourth group.
the deection than F1. In the opposite, the increasing of the
joint angle for frame F10 decreasing horizontal movement the same acting moment. Due to the fact that, the tension
and increasing the deection of than F1 [11]. This is due steel is continuous around the corner of joint and the diag-
to the effect of different values of normal force for frames onal tension formed in opening joint. Hence, the horizontal
F1, F9 and F10. movement of roller support of frame F11 more than frame
For the fth group, the deection behaviour of frame F11 F1 because that, the horizontal force acting at roller sup-
improved compared with frame F1. The deformation of port of frame F11 more than that of frame F11 at the same
closing joint less than the deformation of opening joint at acting moment.
160 M. Nabil et al.
80
Finally, the load deection curves of the tested frames are
Load kN
70 F1 nearly linear at the early stages of loading, up to the yielding
60 load. However, once the yielding occurs excessive cracks take
F9
place, and accordingly the deections increase rapidly.
50 F10
40 Finite element analysis
30
Methodology
20
10
HZ. Movement mm The main aim of performing a nite element analysis of the
0 models was to extend the investigations carried out experimen-
0 20 40 60 80 tally to have better understanding of the behaviour of all tested
specimens.
Figure 35 Experimental results of loadhorizontal movement of
roller support of the fourth group.
Modelling of specimens
40
Model description
Absolute Moment kN.m
80 80
70 Group I 70
60 60 Group II
50 50
Load kN
Load kN
40 40
F1
30 30 F1
F2
20 20
F3 F5
10 10
Deecon mm F4 Deecon mm F6
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200 250
1 80
70 Group IV
0.8 Group III
60
50
Load kN
0.6
40
R
0.4 F1 30 F1
F7 20 F9
0.2
F8 10 F10
Deecon mm Deecon mm
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
40
Absolute Moment kN.m
35 Group V
30
25
20
15
F1
10
5 F11
Absolute Deecon mm
0
0 50 100 150 200
Figure 39 Loaddeection for rst, second, third, fourth and fth group (FE results).
40
80
35
Absolute Moment kn.m
70
30
60
25
50
Load kN
F1 (FE)
20 40
F1 (EXP) F5 (FE)
15 30
F11 (FE) F5 (EXP)
10 20 F9 (FE)
F11(EXP)
5 10 F9 (EXP)
Absolute Deecon mm Deecon mm
0 0
0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60
Figure 40 Comparison of results of FE and tests for the tested Figure 41 Comparison of results of FE and tests for the tested
F1 and F11. F5 and F9.
162 M. Nabil et al.