Seismatic design of slab-column connections

Abstract

Both experimental and theoretical studies are carried out to investigate the behaviour of concrete flat plates subjected to shear and reversed cyclic moment at their connections. Tests of seven full-size interior slab-column connections subjected to shear and cyclic horizontal load are reported. Based on the test results in this study and previous test results published in the literature, it is concluded that the slab-column connections with shear studrails in the column vicinity posses enough ductility to meet the requirements of the current seismic design codes, such as the National Building Code of Canada (1990) and the Uniform Building Code (1988). It is also observed in the tests and concluded from the analysis that the strength of the slab-column connections under cyclic load is about 20% less than that of the connections under monotonic load. For the flexural strength design of the connections, a fonnula based on the yield-line theory is developed. Some suggestions for improving the connection behaviour under cyclic loading are made.