Seismic Behavior of RC Beam to Partially Steel Tubed Concrete (PSTC) Column Joints Under High Axial Load and Cyclic Loading

A new type of partially steel tubed concrete (PSTC) column is proposed that is suitable to be used in new high rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Three exterior joint specimens consisting of RC beams and PSTC columns and two exterior RC joint specimens were designed and tested under high axial load and cyclic loading to investigate the joint behavior in terms of failure pattern, hysteresis response, deformation, energy dissipation capacity and degradation of strength and stiffness. Test results indicate that the PSTC column can benefit the performance of the joint in terms of strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity and can partly compensate for the unfavorable effect induced by slab. The strong column–weak beam mechanism can also be ensured in RC beam to PSTC column joint.