Development of precast concrete and steel hybrid special moment-resisting frames

Unrestricted In this NSF sponsored research project, an innovative hybrid steel precast concrete column (PC) and steel beam (S) moment resisting system was proposed and studied. The proposed hybrid PCS beam-column frame is structurally unique in that its system continuity and toughness is solely provided by the post-tensioning force of beam-column connection. The proposed PCS system is also economically efficient due to the mixed use of precast concrete and steel beam. Compared with conventional steel structure, PCS system has lower material cost while better dynamic characteristics. Compared with conventional reinforced concrete system, PCS frame is lighter, lesser labor cost and faster construction speed.; To validate the use of hybrid PCS special moment resisting frame in moderate to high seismic regions, a capacity-based design methodology was developed and applied to design of prototype building. The effectiveness of the proposed design approach was also examined through large scale quasi-static testing of beam-column-footing subassembly. Test results showed that the hybrid PCS moment frame can be designed to have adequate strength, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity.; Some considerations on the nonlinear modeling of the proposed hybrid PCS beam-column connection are also presented. The purpose of the proposed modeling method is to capture the rotational behavior of the PCS beam-column connection.