Influence of fiber orientation on structural performance of beam-column joints using PVA FRCC

Abstract

In recent years, many studies on fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) has been conducted actively to improve brittle behavior of cementitious materials. FRCC shows the improved tensile performance and ductility because fibers across the crack can transfer tensile force after first cracking. When fibers tent to orient perpendicularly to crack surface, higher bridging effect of fibers is observed. When fibers tend to orient parallel to crack, however, bridging performance of fibers becomes poor. As one of the examples, the authors have already conducted that the casting direction of FRCC influences the tensile performance of FRCC. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of fiber orientation on structural performance of PVA FRCC beam-column joint by using two types of casting method. Horizontal and vertical casting beam-column joint specimens are tested by reversed cyclic load simulating earthquake force. A vibrator rod is also applied during the casting. The applied load on beams and the story drift angle of two specimens are obtained directly from the experiment. According to the experimental results, specimens of horizontal casting and vertical casting show almost the same shear capacities. Using a vibrator rod during casting has an influence on shear capacity of PVA FRCC beam-column joint.