CICE 2010 - The 5th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering September 27-29, 2010 Beijing, China

Beam-to-column connection of a precast concrete frame strengthened by NSM CFRP strips.

T. de C. C. S. da Fonseca (tfonseca@sc.usp.br), S. F. de Almeida, J. B. de Hanai
Department of Structural Engineering, University of So Paulo (USP), So Carlos, Brazil

ABSTRACT: This paper presents results of experimental tests of a concrete frame with emphasis on the connections strengthening assessment. The tests were conducted in a small scale frame composed of precast columns and beam. Initially there were pinned connections between the beam and columns. The frame was loaded in two points of the beam until a beam cracking had been observed. The connections were strengthened by embedding CFRP strips in the lateral concrete cover. The frame was loaded again until failure which had occurred by splitting concrete edge in the connection region. It was observed that the strengthened connection exhibited semi-rigid behavior and provided significant reduction in the beam midspan deflection. 1 INTRODUCTION Over the last decades the strengthening by embedding FRP strips in concrete cover has become more popular, some guidelines to design the strengthening are being developed and more ways to apply this technique are emerging. In this paper the application of this technique to the strengthening of beam-to-column connections in precast frames is evaluated. Specifically, the aim is to assess the improvement of the connection capacity to transfer bending moment. Precast concrete structures can present unsatisfactory global behavior evidenced by either excessive lateral displacements or vibration, or excessive vertical deflections. In either monolithic or precast deficient structures, the rehabilitation is usually performed at their beams or columns. Certainly for most cases such procedure is the easiest to follow. However if the subject to be corrected is related to the global behavior of the structure, the strengthening of the connections between beams and columns should be considered. Marin & El Debs (2009) affirm that the global stability of precast multi-storey structures can be obtained by improving the stiffness of the beam-to-column connections. They have shown through numeric simulation that the use of semi-rigid beam-to-column connections makes the construction of up to six-storey buildings with precast skeletal structures possible in terms of global stability. For such buildings with pinned beam-tocolumn connections a referential limit is twelve meters in height. 2 EXPERIMENTAL TEST 2.1 Specimen A small scale specimen was used in this study. The specimen is a plane assemblage of two precast columns and one beam. The beam was connected to the columns by pinned connections. This type of connection is widely used in low-rise building structures of precast concrete and is formed by support cushions and dowels. The geometric characteristics of the model are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Specimen with metallic devices in column bases.

2.2 Properties of materials In the first set of tests, the beam and columns had a concrete cylinder compressive strength of 37 MPa, tensile strength (obtained by diametral compression test) of 3 MPa and a concrete Youngs modulus of 31 GPa. Support cushions of natural rubber NR 1087 with Shore Hardness 70 A manufactured by ORION were used. The CFRP strips used for the strengthening have a cross-section of 2 x 16 mm and area of 32 mm2. The strip tensile strength guaranteed by manufacturer is 2.1 GPa and the tensile modulus is 130 GPa. The ultimate strain of the strip specified by manufacturer is 1.7 %. The measured tensile strength of 1.6 GPa was determined in the laboratory, as well as the tensile modulus of 116 GPa and the ultimate strain of 1.3%. The adhesive chosen to glue CFRP strips was Sikadur 330. The manufacturer guarantees tensile strength of 30 MPa and tensile modulus of 4500 MPa. 2.3 Preparation of specimen The columns and beam were cast in wood molds and remained curing for two days. In the base of each column mold a metallic plate that composes the metallic device was coupled and longitudinal reinforcement bars were anchored in that by nuts and washers. The elements were air-dried in laboratory environment and then removed from the molds. The columns were erected and fixed on the structural floor of the laboratory by metallic devices. The support cushions were placed on the corbels and then the beam edges were supported over the cushions. Finally the spaces between the corbel and the beam were fulfilled with grout. The specimen with this configuration was used for the first two loading stages. After these stages, the beam-to-column connections were strengthened by the procedure as follows. Four slits were made in each connection region, two located at 3 cm from the specimen top and two located at 3 cm from the beam bottom. These slits were made with a standard concrete saw, with 0.5 cm width and 1.8 cm depth along 50 cm in the lateral concrete cover, as it is shown in Figure 2. The slits were washed and then air-dried in laboratory environment. The dust in the slits was removed with compressed air and the slits were fulfilled with resin. The strips previously cleaned with alcohol and daubed with resin were introduced in the slits. They were then pressed into the slits to force the epoxy adhesive to flow between the CFRP and the slit borders. The exceeding resin was removed with a trowel to finish the strengthening procedure. The model with strengthened beam-to-column connections was used for the third and fourth loading stages.
Figure 2. Specimen with strengthened connections.

2.4 Test setup, instrumentation and procedure The specimen was fixed on the structural floor of the laboratory by metallic devices in the columns bases. An actuator hung in an auxiliary frame was used to apply the loading, which was distributed for two points in the beam. The test setup and instrumentation are illustrated in Figure 3.

Posterior face
5,5 4 7,5

Actuator

Posterior face
CL2

Load cell
CL3 CL4 F/2 F/2

CL1

F
LR LR

TD4
5,25

25

25

hTD-A

hTD-B

TD3

EX1

TD1 TD2
5,5

TD5 SIDE B SIDE A

TD - Displacement transducer CL - Clinometer EX - Extensometer

Figure 3. Test setup and instrumentation.

Five displacement transducers were used, one of them (TD5) to measure the vertical displacement in the beam midspan and the others to measure horizontal relative displacements between the beam and columns in the connection regions (TD1-4). These measurements allowed indirectly assessing the connection rotation. Additionally, four clinometers (CL1-4) were used to obtain the connection rotation. Details of the position of these measure instruments are presented in Figure 3. An electric extensometer was fixed on the top face of the beam centered in the span (EX1). Other extensometers were placed in the reinforcement of the sections subjected to higher efforts. The test was divided into two parts. In the first one, the specimen had pinned connections and in the second it had strengthened connections. Monotonically increasing loads were applied at a rate of 0,005 mm/s under displacement control of the actuator piston. In the first part of the test two loadingunloading cycles were carried out. In the first cycle, a force of 35 kN (nominal value) was reached and in the second, 55 kN. At this point of the test the cracking at the bottom of the beam midspan region was clearly identified, as well as the interface separation between the grout and the concrete of the connection regions. Then the test was paused and the beam-tocolumn connections were strengthened, as already described at Section 2.3. The same setup test was again assembled and the second part of the test was initiated with one loading-unloading cycle until the force had reached 41 kN. Afterwards, the specimen was loaded until failure which occurred when the total force was 94 kN. 2.5 Results The failure occurred in one of the connections regions (SIDE A in Fig. 3) and involved the concrete edge splitting at the column top (Fig. 4). The strain in the CFRP strip at failure was 5.3 , which wasvery distant from its ultimate strain (1.7 %). The splitting of the edge was observed in bond tests in other researches, e. g. Lorenzis & Teng (2006), and is supposed to occur when the strip is bonded close to the edge. Blaschko (2003) suggests that the distance between the strip and the edge should be either not shorter than 30 mm or the maximum aggregate size. Kang et al. (2005) affirm that this distance should be longer than 4 cm. In this test a 3 cm distance was adopted, mainly due to the specimen dimensions. The premature splitting could be facilitated by the limited length available for embedding the strips in columns, which is also related with the specimens dimensions. The beam showed a usual crack pattern at failure. The longitudinal steel reinforcement of the beam presented maximum strain of 2.8 .

Figure 4. Connection region after failure.

The bending moment x rotation curve was traced for stiffness evaluation and is presented in Figure 5. The transducer (TD1-4) measurements were used to calculate the connections rotation. The methodology proposed by Catoia (2007) was used to calculate the bending moments at the connections. It is based on the equivalence between the moment bending x curvature relationship in the beam for two conditions: frame with pinned beam-to-column connection (simple supported beam) and frame with semi-rigid connections. Figure 5 also shows a bi-linear approach adopted for the behavior of the connection. The last measurements were taken disregarded in this approach as the splitting process had already started for those data. The gradient of the two linear stages gives the initial and final connection stiffnesses (k).

Last cycle 15 Bending moment (kN.m) 12 9 6 3 0 0,0E+00

Initial k

Final k

2,0E-03

4,0E-03

6,0E-03

8,0E-03

1,0E-02

Rotation (rad)

Figure 5. Bending moment versus rotation for the last loading stage.

The connection stiffness for the initial stage was 3500 kN.m/rad (initial k) and for the second stage 1400 kN.m/rad (final k). The value of initial k classifies the connection as semi-rigid with medium flexural strength according to the proposal of Ferreira et al. (2002). Figure 6 shows the total load x midspan deflection curves for all loading cycles. It is interesting to notice that comparing the first loading stage (P_35) with the second (P_55) a decreasing in the initial inclination is observed, probably due to a decrease in the beam stiffness. Comparing the first loading with the loadings made in the structure with strengthened connections (S_41 and S_rup) allows noting that the initial inclination is almost reestablished. Another interesting consequence of the strengthening is the reduction in the midspan beam deflection, illustrated in Figure 6. A reduction of approximately 50% is observed to the force of 55 kN, considering the curve for the last loading stage (S_rup) and the curve of the second loading stage (P_55).

4 ACKNOWDEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support given by the So Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

5 REFERENCES
Blaschko M. 2003. Bond behavior of CFRP strips glued into slits. In: Proceedings FRPRCS-6. World Scientific. 205214, Singapore. Catoia, B. 2007. Comportamento de vigas protendidas prmoldadas com ligaes semi-rgidas. Master thesis. Universidade Federal de So Carlos. So Carlos. De Lorenzis, L. & Teng, J.G. 2006. Near-surface mounted FRP reinforcement: An emerging technique for strengthening structures, Composites Part B: Engineering 38: 119-143. Ferreira, M. A et al. 2002. Modelo terico para projeto de ligaes semi-rgidas em estruturas de concreto pr-moldado. In: Congresso Brasileiro do Concreto, 44. Belo Horizonte. Kang, J. Y. et al. 2005. Analytical Evaluation of RC Beams Strengthened with Near Surface Mounted CFRP Laminates. In: 7th international symposium Fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement for concrete structures (FRPRCS 7), 779794. Kansas City. Marin, M. C. & El Debs, M. K. 2009. Anlise do limite do nmero de pavimentos em estruturas usuais de mltiplos pavimentos em concreto pr-moldado. In: 2 Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa-Projeto-Produo em Concreto PrMoldado. So Carlos.

P_35 90 75 Total load (kN) 60 55 45 30 15 0 0 1 2

P_55

S_41

S_rup

3,3 mm

6,6 mm
Deflection reduction

Midspan deflection (mm)

Figure 6. Total load versus midspan deflection for the four loading stages.

3 CONCLUSIONS The strengthening was effective in the increase of connection stiffness. After strengthened the connection could be even classified as semi-rigid with medium flexural strength. The connection strengthening provided a significant reduction in the midspan beam deflection. The premature failure with the fragile splitting of the edge observed when the strips presented only 30% of their ultimate strain is undesirable. However, it can be emphasized that it is certainly related to the distance between the strips and concrete edges. Additionally, it could be related to the limited length available for embedding the strips in columns. Both conditions could be changed if the tests were made with real scaled specimens.