Seismic Retrofit of Defective RC Beam-Column Joints

Strong earthquakes always occur in countries with seismic risk and can potentially cause multiple deaths. This study investigates the seismic vulnerability of RC beam-column connections. Generally, it is impractical to simultaneously set up the molds of the concrete beam, ceiling and column and achieve a uniform concrete and this can cause numerous constructional deficiencies. Usually, these deficiencies can be instrumental in the failure of RC frames. Therefore, this study investigates the performance of a defective RC beam-column connection and provides a method to improve the behavior of the connection. The defective connection studied herein belongs to a high school in the city of Kermanshah, Iran. Many factors that affect the performance of the retrofitting designs are studied. Also, all of the parameters used in the analyses were obtained based upon the actual behavior of the material through core extraction and tensile tests. Finally, an optimal design is proposed.