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The design and construction of joints and connections is the most important consideration in
precast concrete structures.
The main objective is to transmit forces between structural members and provide stability and
robustness. There are several ways of achieving a satisfactory connection e.g. bolting, welding
or grouting.
The joints should be designed to resist applied service and ultimate loads, they should be
adequate in case of abnormal loads due to fire, impact, explosions, subsidence etc.
Within a single connection there may be several load transmitting joints.
Joint:
A joint is the action of force (e.g. tension, shear, compression) that takes place at the interface
of two or more structural components.
Connection:
A connection is the action of forces (e.g. tension, shear, compression) and moments (bending,
torsion) through an assembly comprising one or more interfaces.
BASIC MECHANISM:
The term mechanism defines the action of forces between structural elements. It is used to
illustrate the difference between a monolithic cast in situ connection and a site jointed precast
concrete one.
Additional forces unique to a precast structure are generated due to the relative displacement
and rotation between elements. These moments should be properly assessed and designed.
There are different divisions in precast elements which are considered to be:
non-isolated (e.g. hollow core floor units, which are grouted together, would distribute
the shear force to adjacent members in the event of failure at the beam support).
Isolated (a stair flight unit seated on to a dry corbel is an isolated element).
The methods of connection analysis employed are:
Strut and tie, for the bearing forces.
Coupled joints for the transfer of bearing forces, bending and torsional moments.
Shear friction to transfer shear with or without compression.
Shear joints:
The action of shear force across the joint is rarely alone. In most cases shear forces are
transferred across concrete surfaces along with the direct or flexural compression.
Shear transfer is never considered in the presence of tension. Shear joints occur most frequently
between panels of significantly large surface area (panel here refers to floor units).
The failure mode for shear is brittle and is not recoverable elastically. For these reasons partial
safety factors are quite large.
Shear forces can be transferred between concrete elements by following methods:
Adhesion and bonding.
Shear friction.
Shear keys.
Dowel action
Mechanical devices.
Adhesion and bonding:
When cast in situ concrete is placed against a precast concrete surface, adhesive bond develops
in the fresh cement paste, in tiny pores of the mature concrete. The bond stress depends largely
on workmanship.
However, the bond is quite strong in shear alone, the presence of small tensile stress in the
absence of ant transverse restraint will cause rapid shear failure. Therefore, shear bond is not
relied on and is not allowed to act alone.
Shear friction:
Similar to the shear bonding, shear friction relies on the nature of the interface between contact
surfaces. When a joint has certain roughness, shear will be transmitted by friction even if the
interface us cracked to a value less than critical width, typically 0.5-2.0 mm depending on how
the surface has been prepared. There is nearly always an intermediate cast in situ infill, although
dry contact surface will also produce large frictional resistance. In either case a normal, or
transverse, force N must be mobilized in order to develop shear friction force V and given as
V = N
Where = coefficient of friction.
Shear keys:
Shear keys are also known as castellated joints owing to the shape of the cut out. Shear keys
rely on mechanical interlock and development of a confined diagonal compressive strut across
the shear plane.
The minimum length of the shear key should be 40mm, and the root depth should be at least
10mm. the length to depth ratio should not exceed 8.
Dowel action:
Dowel action joints are the joints where reinforcing bars, bolts, studs etc. are placed across
joints, shear forces may be transmitted by so called dowel action of the bars. In this context
the bar is called a dowel. Where it is used to determine the shear capacity of a joint, dowel bar
acts alone, i.e. shear friction and shear key effects are ignored.
Mechanical shear joints:
Shear transfer may be achieved locally by using mechanical shear joints. The design must be
very carefully considered because to ensure high shear stiffness the joint is made either by site
welding embedded plates, or tightly clamping using friction grip bolts.
Thus there is no inherent flexibility in a joint which cannot tolerate out of plane forces. The
most common form of mechanical connection is the welded plate or bar.
The effects of thermal expansion of embedded plates must be considered to prevent cracking
of surrounding concrete.
These connections are designed mainly as simply supported. They require to carry large shear
forces at the end of the beam and to transmit the shear force into the column through an
eccentric bearing.
A beam-column connection may comprise one or more beams, typically two or three. They
may be connected to column at a common level or displaced vertically depending on the
versatility of the connector inside the column.
Although there is continuity across the beam, especially in type D, type 2 connections are
pinned with regards to beam-column action. They offer no resistance to side sway.
Hidden connections:
Hidden connectors are more suited to multi beam connections than corbels because of the
difficulties in casting corbels on three or four faces.
Hidden connections comprise of two main parts i.e. a beam unit and a column unit.
Column inserts:
Column inserts is the name used to describe a steel section that is embedded into a precast
column in order to transfer shear and axial forces, and sometimes bending and torsion moments
to column.
The types of column inserts are as follows:
Universal column or beam.
Rolled channel, angle or bent plate.
Rolled rectangular or square hollow section.
Narrow plate.
Threaded dowels or bolts in steel or plastic tubes.
Bolts in cast-in steel sockets.
CONNECTIONS TO COLUMNS USING CORBELS:
A corbel is a short cantilever projection from the face of the column which supports a load
bearing element on its upper horizontal ledge. It is extensively used in situation where the
visual aesthetics of connections is not important and where particularly heavy loads are to be
transferred from beams to columns.
In other situations, it is often desirable to contain connection within the overall depth of the
beam.
There are two types of corbels namely:
Shallow corbels:
Shallow corbels are designed as short cantilevers, according to BS8110, part 1, clause 5.2.7.
where the distance to the effective position of the load action av < 0.6d. the depth of the face of
the corbel should not be less than half of the total depth. The width of the corbel must be less
than about 500mm, otherwise it qualifies as a continuous nib.
Compared to nibs, which are used for lighter loads, forces are distributed more evenly in a
corbel.
Deep corbels:
Deep corbels simulate inclined columns where av > 0.2d. A deep corbel is usually required
because the capacity of the shallow corbel is insufficient.
However, the problem of local bursting stresses at the bearing surface is important and so mild
steel spreader plates are often used for deep and shallow corbels except that the shear in the
compressive region should not exceed 1.3 N/mm2 (BS8110, Part 1, Clause 5.3.7).
COLUMN FOUNDATION CONNECTION:
All column-foundation connections may be designed either as pinned or moment resisting.
Connections to foundations, such as pad footings, pile caps, retaining walls, ground beams etc.
are made in one of three ways:
Base plate:
The size of the plate is either greater than the size of the column or equal to the column.
Although the base plate method is the most expensive of the three options it has the advantage
that the column may be immediately stabilized and plumbed vertically adjusting the level of
the nuts to the holding down bolts. This is particularly important when working in soft ground
conditions.
Grouted pockets/columns in pockets:
This is the most economical solution from a precasting point of view, but its use is restricted
to situation where fairly large in situ concrete pad footings can easily be constructed. The
precast column only requires additional links to resist the bursting pressure generated by the
end bearing forces and a chemical retarding agent. In case where the column reinforcement is
in tension, the bars extending into pockets must be fully anchored by bolts. In order to reduce
the depth of the pocket to manageable size these bars may need to be hooked at their ends.
Grouted sleeves:
One of the most popular and economical column foundation detail is the grouted sleeve.
Starter/waiting bars projecting from the foundation pass into openings, usually circular sleeves,
in the column. The annulus around the bar is afterwards filled with expansive flowable grout
of strength equal to that of column, buy not usually less than fcu= 40 N/mm2. The normal
grouted pocket method has inherent strength and stiffness providing a moment resisting
connection.