Master of Engineering

High finish cementitious composites are really more and more more useful for various structural applications in a number of countries. More lately, a notable interest has centered on structural performance under seismic loading. However, an essential insufficient coherent information and experimental/record data accessible inside the literature should be recognized coupled with inadequate specific and well-recognized code-guidelines to be used of FRC in seismic applications. More particularly, when dealing with seismic resistant frame systems, number of study has investigated formerly the seismic response of beam-column joints reinforced with steel fibres. These preliminary experimental tests have proven that adding steel fibres in joints is a sure way of improving joint conduct and absorption capacity furthermore to growing the harm tolerance of joints and reducing the amount of stirrups in seismic joints. However, because of the select couple of of experimental tests furthermore to within the wide dispersion within the type and mechanical characteristics within the fibres adopted of these independent researches, the particular contributions of concrete, steel fibres and stirrups for that overall joint shear capacity hasn’t yet been clearly identified and understood. These studies aims to look into the seismic conduct and failure modes of beam-column joint subassemblies reinforced with steel fibres while using the intent to supply preliminary techniques for an easy but rational analytical procedure to judge the joint shear strength when either fibres and/or stirrups are adopted. Incorporated in a much more comprehensive on-going research campaign across the seismic conduct of FRC people and systems, six 2-D exterior beam-column joint subassemblies were tested under simulated seismic loading (quasi-static cyclic loading regime) inside the Civil Engineering Laboratory within the College of Canterbury.

To be able to look at the contribution of steel fibres for that joint (panel zone) shear strength, both under-designed systems (without any transverse reinforcement within the joint, following older practice prior to the pre-1970s) and correctly designed systems (transporting out a NZ concrete design standard NZS 3101:1995) were adopted as benchmark examples. The performance of steel fibre reinforced beam-column joints were instead of individuals of conventional joints. Results proven that using steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) within beam-column joints can considerably enhance the shear resistance capacity of joints. However, using steel fibre reinforcement alone can’t prevent buckling within the reinforcing bars when joints they are under intense seismic loading. Furthermore, test results also proven that using steel fibre reinforcement is a sure way of reduce the lateral reinforcement within the beam plastic hinge region. Incorporated inside the analytical analysis, a simplified procedure to judge the joint shear contribution supplied by different levels of fibres without or with fretting about stirrups remains also introduced. Influence within the axial force on the joint nominal shear capacity is constantly be considered by adopting principle stresses.

Tentative strength degradation curves (principle tensile stress versus. shear deformation) may also be calibrated across the experimental data which confirmed the tentative relationship relating to the joint shear contributions supplied by concrete, stirrups and steel fibres is a viable tool for designing SFRC joint. Furthermore, joint shear resistance coefficient contributed by steel fibres remains instead of previous experimental test available in literature to obtain a appropriate value for SFRC joint design guidelines. M_N performance based domain visualization has in addition been acquainted with appraise the hierarchy of strength and sequence of occasions of beam-column joint subassemblies.