The Study of Beam - Column Joint of Typical School Building Structure in Malaysia

This report described the study and further analysis of the critical portion of frame
structure - beam column joint of a school building in Malaysia, where it could be
said 'neglected' in the design. The objective of seismic analysis is to assess the force
and deformation demands and capacities on the structural system and its individual
components. The projects is focused on identifying the possible outcome that
seismic load could give onto the structure such as slippage of reinforcement bars in
the joint. Preliminary studies and plan interpretation was done in the early stage.
Several properties on structure members were identified and calculated such as the
ultimate moment and shear capacity. The structure is analyzed using Equivalent
Linear Static analysis. Equivalent static analysis is best suited for structures or
individual frames with well balanced spans and uniformly distributed stiffness. The
seismic load shall be assumed as an equivalent static horizontal force applied to
individual frames. The horizontal force was applied at the vertical center of mass of
the superstructure and distributed horizontally in proportion to the mass distribution.
The analysis was done using the STAAD.Pro software to demonstrate the UBC
Zone 2 loading. Variation of drifts, deformations, displacements and stresses were
identified. However, none of the joint failed. By using more sophisticated software,
evaluation of the bond stress between the reinforcement bars and the concrete in the
joint region was done by using the pseudo - static forces. The results showed that
both bars for beam and column for the joint had only experienced a low range of
stresses, far below from the recommended values. Thus, a conclusion was made that
the structure could actually withstand the loading.