Seismic enhancement of RC exterior beam-column joints using Ultra High Performance Concrete layers

Viet Chinh  Ma; Van Tu  Nguyen; Xuan Dai  Nguyen

doi:10.6180/jase.202605_29(5).0015

Seismic enhancement of RC exterior beam-column joints using Ultra High Performance Concrete layers

Viet Chinh MaiThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Van Tu Nguyen, and Xuan Dai Nguyen

Institute of Construction Technology (ICT), Le Quy Don Technical University, Ha Noi 100000, Viet Nam

Received: April 24, 2025
Accepted: September 1, 2025
Publication Date: October 9, 2025

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202605_29(5).0015

This paper presents an in-depth study of the structural behavior of exterior beam-column joints retrofitted with Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) under reversed cyclic loading. The focus is on evaluating the effectiveness of UHPC in enhancing the seismic performance of reinforced conventional concrete joints, particularly in terms of energy dissipation, stiffness degradation, and crack propagation. The study includes numerical analyses using ABAQUS software to simulate the response of conventional concrete (CC) joints and UHPC-retrofitted joints under cyclic loading. The results demonstrate that the UHPC retrofitting significantly improves the seismic resilience of exterior joints, with notable increases in load-carrying capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation. The maximum load of UHPC-retrofitted joints was found to be 18.8% higher than that of the conventional concrete joints, and they exhibited a more controlled displacement response. Additionally, the secant stiffness of UHPC-retrofitted joints was superior throughout the loading cycles, particularly at higher drift levels. Energy dissipation also showed a consistent advantage for the UHPC-retrofitted joints, with up to 22% higher energy absorption at the maximum loading compared to the conventional joints. Furthermore, damage evolution analysis indicated that while both joint types exhibited X-shaped crack patterns, the UHPC-retrofitted joints displayed delayed and less severe crack propagation

Keywords: Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC); Exterior beam-column joint; Reversed cyclic loading; Energy dissipation; Stiffness degradation; Damage

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