Interaction of internal forces of exterior beam-column joints of reinforced concrete frames under seismic action

Detailed analysis of internal forces of exterior beam-column joints of RC frames under seismic action is reported in this paper. A formula is derived for calculating the average joint shear from the column shears, and a formula is proposed to estimate torque in eccentric joints induced by seismic action. Average joint shear stress and strain are defined consistently for exterior joints, which can be used to establish joint shear constitutive relationship. Numerical results of shear, bending moment and torque in joints induced by seismic action are presented for a pair of concentric and eccentric exterior connections extracted from a seismically designed RC frame, and two sections located at the levels of beam bottom and top reinforcement, respectively, are identified as the critical joint sections for evaluating seismic joint behavior. A simplified analysis of the effects of joint shear and torque on the flexural strengths of the critical joint sections is made for the two connections extracted from the frame, and the results indicate that joint shear and torque induced by a strong earthquake may lead to \"joint-hinging\" mechanism of seismically designed RC frames.