Experimental and Numerical Investigation of RC Beam-Column Subassemblies Strengthened with Spiral Reinforcement under Seismic Loading

Abstract

This research work presents experimental and numerical findings of continuous rectangular spiral shear reinforcement of beam-column connections subjected to seismic type loading. A total of four exterior beam-column subassemblies with continuous, spirally bound, rectangular reinforcements and conventional stirrups as closed manner control specimens were considered. For the spirally strengthened specimens, three different stirrups angle inclines (75°, 80°, 85°) were adopted, and their performances were compared in terms of hysteresis pattern, failure behavior, skeleton curve, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation. Specimens with stirrups inclination angles of 75°, 80°, and 85° exhibited 14%, 28%, and 19% improvements in terms of load-carrying capability over the referred specimen, respectively. In addition to that, a numerical investigation was also carried out using ATENA version 5.3.4 finite element software to validate the experimental result. The developed numerical model shows good correlation with the experimental result and can be used in the design of spiral-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) members.