Structural disaster resistance and bearing performance degradation mechanism of prefabricated reinforced concrete

Abstract Currently, the nodes between prefabricated reinforced concrete columns and columns suffer from long construction period as well as improper maintenance leading to connection quality problems. In order to improve construction efficiency, an innovative prefabricated reinforced concrete column has been proposed. This new type of column uses energy absorbing steel plates connected by bolts as new nodes, and compares its seismic resistance and bearing capacity with ordinary cast-in-place columns. Among them, the new node is composed of energy absorbing steel plates connected by bolts, and a clear force transmission path is designed to ensure the transmission of shear and axial forces. The results revealed that the error between the theoretical and experimental values of the designed prefabricated reinforced concrete columns at peak state was 3.73% and 6.42% for tenon lengths of 100 mm and 200 mm respectively. The equivalent viscous damping coefficient of 0.40 for ordinary cast-in-place columns indicated that these columns have lost their energy dissipation capacity when subjected to seismic action and cannot continue to absorb energy efficiently. The designed prefabricated reinforced concrete columns had higher equivalent viscous damping coefficients when subjected to ground shaking, which indicates that the designed columns have better energy dissipation efficiency and are able to protect the structure from seismic damage better. The design has better peak flexural load bearing performance and high seismic resistance. This helps to evaluate and optimize the seismic performance of prefabricated reinforced concrete columns and provides some references and bases for related engineering designs.