Seismic Performance of Precast Structures Using Energy Dissipating Devices

Abstract

In recent years, with rapid development in construction industry, the shortcomings of traditional methods of construction like increase in labor cost, environmental pollution, construction period and quality control are becoming a cause of concern. The introduction of precast structures is helpful in solving the above problems as it also offers many advantages such as green environmental protection, higher construction efficiency, better quality control, and lower construction cost. But even after all these advantages, the studies have shown that precast buildings perform poorly in earthquakes. The results of various studies have shown that behavior of the beam-column connections has strong influence on the seismic performance of precast structures. The beam-column connections constitute the weakest link in the structure as its insufficient strength and poor ductility is the primary reason for the failure of this kind of structures. Therefore, how to ensure reliable connection between precast members has become an urgent problem. Many researchers have studied this issue and have introduced different energy dissipating devices. In this report, focus has been on the passive energy dissipation devices, and performance of replaceable energy dissipation device for precast concrete beam-column connections is studied. A code compliant eight story RC frame building has been modelled and designed for seismic zone IV. Further, the behavior of dry and wet jointed precast frame has also been studied with designed energy dissipating device.