CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 General
In the last few decades earthquakes have struck different parts of the world. Recent
earthquakes have demonstrated that most of the reinforced concrete structures specially the
beam-column joints are vulnerable during earthquakes. Most of the reinforced concrete
structures will need major repairs in the near future to avoid partial or total collapse during
earthquakes. Retrofitting of existing structures is one of the major challenges that civil
engineers are facing these days. Upgradation to higher seismic zones of several cities and
towns in the country has also necessitated in evolving new retrofitting strategies. Judicious
detailing of reinforcement is of paramount importance to obtain a ductile response of
reinforced concrete structures during earthquake. The detailing is to ensure that the full
strength of reinforcing bars, serving either as principal flexural or transverse reinforcement,
can be developed under the most adverse condition that an earthquake may impose.
1.2 Beam-Column Joint
In reinforced concrete structures, portions of columns that are common to beams at
their intersections are called beam-column joints. Since their constituent materials have
limited strengths, the joints have limited force carrying capacity. When forces larger than
these are applied during earthquakes, joints are severely damaged. Beam-column joints in a
reinforced concrete moment resisting frame are crucial zones for transfer of loads effectively
between the connecting elements in the structure. In normal design practice for gravity loads,
the design check for joints is not critical and hence often these checks are ignored. However
the failure of reinforced concrete frames during earthquakes has demonstrated large
magnitude of stress due to shear in the joints that culminated in the collapse of the structure.
Figure 1.1 shows a reinforced concrete structure that collapsed during the 1999 Kocaeli
earthquake in Turkey in which failure of joints appears to be the major contributor to such
collapse. Figure 1.2 shows a typical view of beam-column joint failure.

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 Fig. 1.1 Collapsed Reinforced Concrete Structure during Kocaeli Earthquake

Fig. 1.2 Typical View of Beam-Column Joint Failure

In reinforced concrete moment resisting framed structures, the functional requirement

of a joint, which is the zone of intersection of beams and columns, is to enable the adjoining
members to develop and sustain their ultimate capacity. The demand on this finite size
element is always severe and more complex due to the possible two-way actions in three-
dimensional framed structures. Beam-column joints are the lateral and vertical load resisting
members in reinforced concrete structures. They are particularly vulnerable to failures during
earthquakes. Recent earthquakes have exposed the vulnerability of existing reinforced

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concrete beam-column joints to seismic loading. The basic requirement of design is that the
joint must be stronger than the adjoining hinging members, usually the beams or columns. It
is important to see that the joint size is adequate early in the design phase, otherwise the size
of column or beam may need to be changed to satisfy the joint strength or anchorage
requirements. The design of beam-column joints is predominantly focused on providing
shear strength and adequate anchorage within the joint. In a global sense, the design
procedure of beam-column joints consists of the following steps:

 Determination of the preliminary size for members based on requirements for the
chosen longitudinal bars.
 Provision of adequate flexural strength of columns to get the desired beam yielding
mechanism.
 Estimation of the design shear force for the joint by evaluating the flexural strength of
the adjacent beams and corresponding internal forces. The simultaneous forces in the
columns that maintain joint equilibrium must also be determined. From these, the
joint shear force can be calculated.
 Estimation of effective joint shear area from the dimension of the adjoining members.
 Maintaining the value of the induced shear stress lower than the allowable stress. The
allowable shear stress limit is expressed as a function of the compressive strength or
diagonal tensile strength of concrete. If this criteria is not satisfied, the associated
member dimensions, viz., and width of the beam or depth of the column shall be
modified.
 Provision of transverse reinforcements to confine the concrete and to take shear force.
 Provision of sufficient anchorage for the reinforcement passing through or
terminating in the joint.
The three main factors considered in design of beam-column joints are:
 Anchorage of main reinforcement of the beam.
 Confinement of the core of joint and
 Shear strength of the joint.

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1.3 Need for the Present Investigation
Until 1990, concrete jacketing and steel jacketing were the two common methods
adopted for strengthening the deficient reinforced concrete beam-column joints. Concrete
jacketing increases the cross sectional area and self-weight of the structure. Steel jackets are
poor in resisting weather attacks. Both methods are labour intensive and difficult to
implement at the site. A new technique for strengthening the reinforced concrete structural
members is through confinement with a composite enclosure. This technique has recently
emerged which uses fiber reinforced polymer sheets to strengthen the reinforced concrete
structures. This external confinement of concrete with high strength fiber composites can
significantly enhance the strength and ductility as well as result in large energy absorption
capacity of structural members. Fiber reinforced polymer sheets have favorable
characteristics such as ease of installation, immunity to corrosion, high strength and
availability in various sizes etc.,
1.4 Historical Background
The initial developments of the technique of strengthening concrete members with
polymer sheets took place in Germany and Switzerland. Strengthening of reinforced concrete
members with externally wrapped fiber reinforced polymer sheets has been studied in detail
by researchers at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, German
Institute of Structural Materials and Institute for Building Construction & Fire Protection.
The results obtained proved that the strengthening technique using fiber reinforced polymer
sheets is highly efficient and effective. Fiber reinforced polymer sheets enhance the strength,
ductility and energy absorption capacity of the reinforced concrete structures. Fiber
reinforced polymer sheets are used to enhance the flexural, shear, and axial load carrying
capacity of the reinforced concrete structures. One of the ways to strengthen the beam-
column joints is to attach the fiber reinforced polymer sheets in the joint region in two
orthogonal directions.
1.5 Scope of the Investigation
Concrete beam-column joints have an important function in the structural concept of
many structures. Often these joints are vulnerable to exceptional loads (such as impact,
explosion or seismic loads), load increase (increasing use or change of function of structures
etc.) and degradation (corrosion of steel reinforcement, etc.). Confinement has proven to be

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very efficient in increasing strength and ductility of concrete members. Factors such as grade
of concrete, grade of steel, spacing of stirrups and ties, area of reinforcement etc. affect the
strength and ductility of reinforced concrete beam-column joints retrofitted with fiber
reinforced polymer sheets. Following are the general scope of the study,
 To understand the effect of spacing of stirrups in providing confinement to
concrete.
 To understand the effectiveness of different types of fiber reinforced polymer
sheets in increasing the load carrying capacity of the beam-column joints.
 To understand the improvement in the ductility of the retrofitted beam-column
joints.
1.6 Objectives
The existing reinforced concrete beam-column joints which are designed as per code
IS 456:2000 do not meet the requirements given in the ductility code IS 13920:1993. Hence
the beam-column joints that are not designed as per the ductility code may not perform well
when subjected to seismic forces. They must be strengthened using fiber reinforced polymer
sheets in order to improve there performance. The effectiveness of the strengthening has to
be evaluated experimentally. Keeping these points in the mind, the following objectives are
formulated.
 To carry out an experimental investigation under static load and reversal load to find
out the load carrying capacity and energy absorption capacity of reinforced concrete
beam-column joint specimens that are detailed as per code IS 456 : 2000 for various
grades of concrete and various axial loads on column.
 To carry out an experimental investigation under static load and reversal load to find
out the load carrying capacity and energy absorption capacity of reinforced concrete
beam-column joint specimens detailed as per code IS 13920 : 1993 for various grades
of concrete and various axial loads on column.
 To carry out an experimental investigation under static load and reversal load to find
the load carrying capacity and energy absorption capacity of reinforced concrete
beam-column joint specimens that are detailed as per code IS 456 : 2000 and
retrofitted with various fiber reinforced polymer sheets such as glass fiber
reinforcement polymer(GFRP) sheets, carbon fiber reinforcement polymer(CFRP)

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 sheets, aramid fiber reinforcement polymer(AFRP) sheets and sisal fiber sheets for
various grades of concrete and various axial loads on column.
 To carry out an experimental investigation under static load and reversal load to find
the load carrying capacity and energy absorption capacity of reinforced concrete
beam-column joint specimens that are detailed as per code IS 456 : 2000 and
retrofitted with hybrid fiber reinforced polymer sheets such as GFRP & CFRP and
GFRP& AFRP.
 To compare the load carrying capacity, energy absorption capacity and cost of
retrofitted beam-column joint specimens with that of control specimens.
 To model the beam-column joints using the software Ansys 9.1 and to study the
effect of grade of concrete on loads carrying capacity of beam-column joints.
1.7 Parameters investigated
The details of the parameters investigated are shown in Fig.1.3

G-C = Glass-Carbon, C-G = Carbon-Glass, G-A = Glass-Aramid, A-G = Aramid-Glass,

C-A = Carbon-Aramid, A-C = Aramid-Carbon, HFRP - Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer,
LCC - Load Carrying Capacity, EAC – Energy Absorption Capacity

Fig.1.3 Details of the Parameters Investigated

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1.8 Organization of Thesis
The thesis consists of six chapters
 An exhaustive review of literature relevant to the objectives of the study has
been conducted during the study and the details are presented in Chapter 2.
 Chapter 3. deals with the design and detailing of beam-column joint
specimens as per the codes IS 456:2000 and IS 13920:1993. The details of
the specimen, method of preparation of the control and retrofitted specimens
are discussed in this chapter.
 Chapter 4. deals with the experimental investigation of control and
retrofitted beam-column joint specimens designed detailed as per the codes
IS 456:2000 and IS 13920:1993. The details of the experimental
investigations, results of the investigations and the findings that are obtained
from the experimental investigations are presented in this chapter.
 Chapter 5. explains the details of the Ansys modeling of control and
retrofitted beam-column joint specimens detailed as per the codes IS
456:2000 and IS 13920:1993. The details of the elements used for modeling
the concrete, steel rods and fiber reinforced polymer seets are given. The
results of the Ansys analysis are compared with that of the experimental
investigation and details are given in this chapter.
 The conclusions derived based on this study and the scope for further
research are given in Chapter 6.
 The first chapter introduces the problem. The scope and objectives are
outlined in Chapter 1.