Cyclic Testing of a Composite Joint between a Reinforced Concrete Column and a Steel Beam

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on the seismic performance of a novel composite joint between reinforced concrete columns and steel beams (RCSs) for frame structures. In the proposed RCS joint, an H steel profile totally embedded inside an RC column is directly welded to the steel beam. The H steel profile was covered by two supplementary plates to avoid the stirrups resisting the shear in the connection region. Two full-scale joints were built and tested under reversed-cyclic loading at the University of Transport and Communications of Vietnam. Seismic performance in terms of load-bearing capacity, story drift capacity, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation were evaluated. The test specimen showed a good response to cyclic load reversals.