Seismic behavior of a novel beam to reinforced concrete-filled steel tube column joint

Abstract This paper presents an experimental investigation of a novel beam to reinforced concrete-filled steel tube (RCFST) column joint. Four beam-to-RCFST-column specimens, varying with a cross-section of middle steel tube (250 × 250 × 6, 300 × 300 × 9, 350 × 350 × 12) and transfer sleeves (with or without), were tested under the cyclic loading to clarify the main seismic indicators, such as failure modes, hysteretic performances, stiffness degradation, strength degradation, energy dissipation capacity and the strain responses of the novel beam-to-RCFST-column joint. The hysteretic curves of the tested beam-to-RCFST-column joint show obvious pinch phenomena because of the slip around the transfer sleeve. Transfer sleeve is the key factor to affect the strength of the tested beam-to-RCFST-column joint. The finite element analysis (FEA) shows a reliable prediction of mechanical properties and failure modes.