Behavior of Precast Beams with Emulative Connections Using Grouted Sleeves and Mechanical Couplers Under Cyclic Loading

The construction of single-story industrial halls in high-seismicity regions requires reliable beam-to-column connections to ensure adequate structural stiffness and strength. This paper investigates the emulative performance of a rigid precast beam–column connection utilizing threaded couplers and grouted corrugated steel sleeves. An experimental pro-gram was conducted on five scaled specimens—one monolithic reference and four pre-cast—subjected to quasi-static cyclic loading. The objective was to verify if the precast system achieved emulative behavior. Experimental results confirm this goal was fully achieved: the precast specimen exhibited a maximum recorded force nearly identical to the value recorded for the monolithic reference. Furthermore, the total dissipated energy for the precast joint had only a marginal 2.6% difference from the monolithic reference. Results demonstrate that the proposed solution provides emulative behavior consistent with monolithic casting. Specifically, the specimens achieved plastic deformation capacities exceeding 3%, surpassing current seismic design code requirements. While smaller diameter rebars (D14) experienced tensile failure at approximately 3% to 4% drift due to strain localization, specimen with larger D25 bars reached 4% drift without major damage. This paper concludes that the connection is suitable for seismic applications provided large diameter rebars (≥20 mm) are used.