STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF VERTICAL JOINTS IN LARGE PANEL BUILDINGS.

This investigation deals with the jointing problems in building structures of assembled large concrete panels. A series of experiments of castellated, loadbearing vertical joints was performed using a load distributing device. The testing arrangement used gave more realistic boundary conditions than those of earlier tests. The joints were mainly subjected to shear loading, but in some cases also forces acting perpendicularly to the joint were applied. The effects of variations in the joint reinforcement and the quality of the joint concrete were studied. Design recommendations for conventional plane joints are given, and for the ductile type of joint future possibilities are outlined. Some experimental results for T-joints at junctions between cross-walls and exterior longitudinal walls are also presented. A possibility of stiffening the structure horizontally in the transverse direction by transferring shear stresses in the T-joints is indicated.