Shear Capacity of Exterior Joints in Reinforced Concrete Structures Under Seismic Action

The reports of damage observed after recent earthquakes pointed out the key importance of beam-to-column joints on the global performance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Several capacity models are currently available for evaluating the shear strength of beam-to-column joints under seismic actions. Furthermore, plenty of experimental tests have been performed on exterior beam-to-column sub-assemblages with the aim of studying their behaviour under monotonic and cyclic loads. On this subject, the present paper focuses on exterior joints in RC beams. The State-of-the-Art about evaluating shear strength in exterior RC joint is outlined and the main parameters which control the joint behaviour are pointed out. Then, a database with the results of a wide number of experimental tests available in the scientific literature is presented. It is employed for assessing accuracy and reliability of the various models for shear strength of beam-to-column joints in RC structures. Finally, further calibrations are presented for enhancing the accuracy of some of the mentioned models.