Numerical Investigation of Beam-Column Connections in Precast Concrete Buildings

The progressive collapse of structures has been the concern of many studies. Efforts have been made to develop methodologies of analysis and design for the mitigation of progressive collapse. As precast structures lack of structural continuity in the load paths, they are more responsive to progressive collapse than the cast-in-situ monolithic reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. In this paper, Analytical study has been conducted to develop a nonlinear finite element FE model using ABAQUS 6.12 software to investigate the behavior of precast non-prestressed reinforced concrete beam-column connection in case of sudden column removal. The FE model consider the nonlinear behavior of concrete and steel. In addition, it takes into account the contact properties between surfaces at joints. A calibration was performed between the numerical and the experimental results, using three half-scale specimens tested under mid column lose, to verify that the FE model could be used for simulating precast beam column connections. There was a good agreement between experimental and numerical results.