An Experimental Study on Effectiveness of Reinforcing Methods on L-Shaped Prestressed Concrete Beam-Column Joints

This paper presents experimental results of cyclic loading tests carried out on three L-shaped prestressed concrete beam-column corner joints. Three types of reinforcing methods to enhance the anchorage performance of beam and column longitudinal reinforcing bars were studied based on the experimental results such as the load-displacement relation curves, deformation capacity, prestressing force variation, and strain measurements of the beam and column reinforcing bars. The test specimens were KPCL1 with the column longitudinal reinforcement with 180-degree hooks at their ends, KPCL2 with the column longitudinal reinforcement bent in a U-shape, and KPCL3 with U-shaped column longitudinal reinforcement and additional transverse reinforcement on the beam longitudinal reinforcement. It can be concluded that the anchorage performance was somehow enhanced by the three reinforcing methods in the positive direction of loading (closing direction), while in the negative direction of loading (opening direction) there was no remarkable improvement.