Experimental investigations and FE simulation of exterior BCJs retrofitted with CFRP fabric

This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical studies conducted to investigate the behavior of exterior reinforced concrete beam column joints (BCJ) strengthened by using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. Twelve reinforced concrete beam-column joints (BCJ) were tested in an experimental program by simulating the joints in seismically deficient old buildings. One group of BCJs was designed to fail in flexure at the BCJ interface, and the second group was designed to ensure joint shear failure. One specimen in each set was -retrofitted with CFRP sheet wrapped diagonally around the joint. The specimens were subjected to both monotonic and cyclic loading up to failure. 3D finite element simulation of the BCJs tested in the experimental program was carried out using the software ABAQUS, adopting the damage plasticity model (CDP) for concrete. The experimental results showed that retrofitting of the shear deficient, BCJs by CFRP sheets enhanced the strength and ductility and the failure mode changed from shear failure in the joints to the desired flexural failure in the beam segment. The FE simulation of BCJs showed a good agreement with the experimental results, which indicated that the CDP model could be used to model the problems of the monotonic and cyclic loading of beam-column reinforced concrete joints.