Seismic behavior of an innovative hybrid beam-column connection for precast concrete structures

Precast concrete structures have become a popular option among available structural forms for their superior mechanical characteristics, economy and sustainable development as well as architectural versatility. However, some technical problem such as complex load path, uncertainty of structural stiffness of beam-column joints and inconvenience for disassembly hinders the application and development of precast concrete structures. In this study, an innovative hybrid beam-column connection is proposed with hierarchy of strong connection and weak structural members for precast concrete structures. An experimental and numerical study is organized to study the seismic behavior of the proposed connection including hysteretic curves, skeleton curves and dissipation capacity. The experimental results showed that the new hybrid beam-column connection can reduce the stress concentration effect at the joint and achieve comparable mechanical performance with cast-in-site connections. A numerical investigation on the seismic behavior of the hybrid beam-column connection is carried out. The benchmark models are initially created and validated against the test data and after that a small-scale parametric study is organized. The effect of the position of I-sectional connector (d), the length of cladding plates (l) and axial compression ratio (α) on seismic behavior of the hybrid beam-column connection is investigated and analyzed.