Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of Precast Frame Columns with Vertical Reinforcement Spliced with Grouted Sleeve Lapping Connectors

Grouted splice connector is widely employed in precast concrete structures, but its utilization is still limited by shortcomings such as high construction cost, inconvenience in assemblage, and uncompacted grout caused by its small sleeve diameter. The grouted sleeve lapping connectors proposed by the authors can not only provide reasonable force transfer and convenient construction processing but also have the characteristics of low price and easy grouting. In this paper, the seismic performance of two full-scale precast concrete columns with two types of grouted sleeve lapping connectors was investigated, where type-I connector connected two lapped rebars and type-II connector connected four lapped rebars by a steel sleeve, respectively. A cast-in-situ column was also tested as a reference. All the specimens were tested under reversed cyclic horizontal load with a constant axial force. The distribution of cracks, failure modes, loading capacities, deformation abilities, stiffness, ductility, hysteresis loops, and energy dissipation of the specimens were studied. The type-I and type-II grouted sleeve lapping connectors satisfactorily transferred the stress of rebars when the columns reached their ultimate loads, and the seismic performance of the precast concrete columns was found to be comparable to that of the cast-in-situ column. Thus, the grouted sleeve lapping connector has a potential to replace the grouted splice connector in cast-in-situ connection.

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