EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PERFORMANCE OF COMPONENTS OF THE EXTERIOR SELF-CENTERING POST-TENSIONED PRECAST CONNECTIONS

A new kind of the self-centering post-tensioned precast connection (simplified as PTED) is proposed based on the concept of the earthquake resilient structure. The PTED connection is composed by precast beams, columns and angles that are connected by frictional high-strength bolts and tendons. Tendons, beams, columns and angles could be recognized as the components of the connection. In order to study the effect of components on the performance of the connection, a series of the low reversed cyclic loading tests were conducted. Firstly, tests of a PTED connection were made for studying the seismic performance of the integral connection. Subsequently, tests on the same connection were repeated to study the seismic performance of the connection with replaced new angles. Respective contributions of the angles and tendons to the performance of the connection were also investigated by the tests. The test results show that the combined effect of PT connection and ED connection consist of the overall performance of the PTED connection; the connection not only has good self-centering capacity but also performs well in energy dissipation; in general, beams, columns and tendons remain elastic and could be reused if the story drift is not more than 4%; in addition, damage of the connection concentrates in the angles themselves that are replaceable; seismic performance of the connection with replaced new angles is basically the same as the original one.