Effect of joint stiffness and flexibility on the design of reinforced cement concrete structure

Abstract

Relevance. A beam-column joint is a crucial zone in any frame structure that transmits the forces at the end of the members in the panel zone. The connection between the joints may be assumed as rigid or flexible one and it is not an ideal one to predict the actual behavior of the joint section. Methods. The displacement along the joint section is the most critical one that has to be taken care while designing the structure. In this paper, the flexibility of the reinforced concrete joints was studied under two different cases: in first phase, building having 3 storey including ground floor was taken and is analysed using SAP 2000 and secondly third floor shear wall with l hollow concrete mesh of column section was analyzed in same software and the flexibility of the joints was tested in terms of its stress and displacement parameters using different approaches such as link mass property, end length offset zone, panel zone rotational spring stiffness property. The results obtained from the two cases were analyzed with consideration of parametric study and variation of the stresses with displacement and are shown with comparative graphic.

Keywords

• joint flexibility
• end length offsets
• rotational spring stiffness
• link mass property