Seismic behavior of precast concrete beam-column joints with steel strand inserts under cyclic loading

•Nine Precast full-scale RC beam-column joints are experimentally and numerically investigated.•A new type of PC connection with steel strand inserts are developed.•A Skeleton model of the PC joint was established through parameter analysis. This paper experimentally investigated the seismic behavior of 9 full-scale reinforced concrete (RC) joints—8 precast RC joints and 1 cast-in-place RC joint—under cyclic loading. The precast concrete (PC) joints were divided into 3 types: cast-in-place, precast beam cast-in-place column, and fully precast with assembly. With the presence additional reinforcement at the joint core and debonding of reinforcement in some joints, the PC joints differed with other types of joints. The experimental results, such as hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation, were analyzed, which showed that the PC joints with steel strands anchored into the joint core zone could meet the seismic code requirements. Additionally, a finite elementanalysis of the new type of PC joint was performed numerically, and the predicted seismic performance was in very good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, a skeleton model of the PC joint was established through parameter analysis.