Strengthening of Interior Slab Column Connections via Post Installed Steel Shear Bolts

Abstract

Flat slabs are widely used in construction operations because of their simplicity and ease. However, this type of structures can be subjected to brittle punching shear failure in the slabcolumn connections. Without shear reinforcement, the slab column connection can suffer brittle punching failure. In order to overcome the risk of brittle punching shear failure in the column vicinity, the use of post installed shear bolts as a transverse reinforcement is investigated in this paper. A set of six half scale reinforced concrete slab column connections were tested under monotonic concentric load. Three of the tested specimens were provided with steel shear bolts after the hardening of the concrete. Results indicated an enhanced punching strength for specimens provided with steel shear bolts. The increase in punching capacity was combined with a significant increase in both ductility and rotational capacity.