USE OF CLOSELY SPACED HEADED BARS IN BEAM-COLUMN JOINTS SUBJECTED TO CYCLIC LOADING

Generally, a conventional 90-degree standard hook is used for the anchorage of reinforcing bars terminating within a beam-column joint. It is well accepted that hooked bars should be bent into the joint with the hook embedded as far as possible from the critical section. This requirement and the specified dimensions of standard hooks in the ACI 318 Code, however, often cause steel congestion in an exterior beam-column joint, thereby, making fabrication and construction dif- ficult. Using headed bars oers a potential solution to this problem and can also ease fabrication, construction and concrete placement.
Relevant provisions and limitations of headed deformed bars have been provided in the ACI 318-11 Code. Over the last two decades, many experimental studies have been carried out to evaluate the provisions of the ACI 318 Code for anchored headed bars. There is still a need for additional data for various design parameters, such as headed-bar clear spacing and the number of layers of beam reinforcing bars. In this regard, the current study investigates the applicability of closely spaced headed bars in the exterior beam-column joints of earthquake resistant structures. Four 2/3-scale exterior beam-column joint specimens were manufactured and tested under cyclic lateral loading. The variables in dierent specimens include clear spacing and the number of layers of the headed bars of the beam, and also the development length of the headed bars.
The seismic performance of the tested beam-column joints is qualitatively evaluated based on the acceptance criteria in ACI374.1-05 entitled: \Acceptance Criteria for Moment Frames Based on Structural Testing and Commentary". Evaluation of the specimens' loaddisplacement hysteretic behaviour and comparison of the test results with ACI 374.1-05 criteria, show that beamcolumn joints with closely spaced headed bars can exhibit satisfactory performance and adequate anchorage capacity. Test results also indicate that headed bars with a development length shorter than that provided by the ACI 318-11 Code can be eectively anchored in exterior beam-column joints under inelastic deformation reversals.