Experimental study on seismic performance of prefabricated reinforced concrete beam–column joints

To address the insufficient seismic resilience and post-earthquake repairability of conventional prefabricated reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures, this study proposes a novel prefabricated beam–column joint incorporating a localized steel sleeve and high-strength bolted connection. The primary objective of the proposed joint is to achieve reliable force transmission, stable hysteretic behavior, and enhanced ductile energy dissipation under seismic actions. Three full – scale joints were tested under displacement-controlled cyclic loading to investigate the effects of axial compression ratio and bolt strength grade. The seismic performance was evaluated in terms of failure modes, load-bearing capacity, stiffness degradation, ductility, and energy dissipation, and corresponding finite element models were developed and validated. The test results demonstrated that the proposed joint exhibited stable and full hysteretic loops with favorable energy dissipation capacity. The displacement ductility indices ranged from 3.6 to 3.9, the equivalent viscous damping ratios exceeded 0.20, and the energy dissipation coefficients were greater than 1.5. An increase in axial compression ratio led to reductions in ultimate load capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation performance, whereas a lower bolt strength grade contributed to improved ductility and energy dissipation. Overall, the proposed prefabricated joint satisfied the seismic performance requirements for prefabricated RC frame structures, confirming its effectiveness in enhancing structural resilience and post-earthquake repairability.