PSEUDO-STATIC EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAME WITH SPECIAL-SHAPED COLUMNS

The pseudo-static experimental investigation on three 1/2-scale reinforced concrete (RC) frames with special-shaped columns (SSC) was conducted to examine the load-bearing capacity, deformability and energy dissipation capacity, and the failure mechanism of frame with SSC. The seismic behavior of wall infilled frame with SSC was compared with that of frame with SSC and common masonry wall infilled frame. Research results indicate that the lateral load bearing capacity of the wall infilled frame with SSC is increased by 30% compared with the frame with SSC, the wall infilled frame with SSC is stronger than the common wall infilled frame, while the interaction of concrete hollow block masonry wall and frame with SSC is weaker than that of ordinary brick masonry wall and frame. The lateral deformability of the frame with SSC is between the common frame and shear wall. The frame with SSC is ideal beam hinge failure which has the better deformability and energy dissipation capacity. Under the cyclic load, the ductility of the frame composed of two T-shaped columns is supper to that of one T-shaped column because of flanges in each compressed region of section.