A Review on the Ductile Beam Column Connection for Precast Concrete Structures

Abstract The beam-column connections form an integral part of any building, the failure of which can endanger the stability of the entire structure. Recent trends in construction have witnessed a growing interest in precast construction owing to its reduced construction time, concrete wastage, ease of assembly and preventing concrete failure at the construction site during erection. However, contrary to conventional RC structures, the beam-column connections in precast concrete structures are not standardized and it is often difficult to achieve continuity between the members. Although several International design standards exist for precast concrete structures, the current available Indian building codes do not include capacious design and analysis specifications for the precast concrete beam-column connection systems. This limits the applicability of precast structures in high seismic zones where the beam-column connections play a pivotal role. The precast connection should satisfy the strong column and weak beam mechanisms for satisfactory seismic performance. Several researchers have developed suitable configurations for the precast beam-column connections to ensure adequate seismic performance. Numerous experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out by these researchers to propose an economical and practical solution for the ductile precast concrete connections. This paper presents a systematic review of the design standards for precast concrete and the research carried out till date in developing solutions for the ductile connection problem in precast concrete structures. The major topics that this review addressed are given below: (1) Current Indian and International Standards for precast concrete connections. (2) The various types and configurations of precast beam-column joints. (3) Experimental and numerical studies on the seismic performance of precast beam-column connections. (4) Studies on innovative hybrid beam-column connections. The failure patterns, energy dissipation, lateral strength, stiffness, and displacement ductility were some of the parameters considered for the evaluation of the seismic performance of the precast connections.