A study of lapped splices in reinforced concrete columns under severe cyclic loads

In an investigation of the behavior of overlapped reinforcing rods under high level, inelastic, reversing cyclic loads, 14 tests were conducted on column specimens with No. 6 spliced bars at the corners of surrounding No. 3 stirrups, subjected to combined bending and shear. The relationship between the splice length and the stirrup spacing was studied in detail. The most significant result is that a reasonable level of ductility in splices under combined bending and shear was achieved by providing uniformly spaced stirrups along the splice, and closely spaced stirrups just outside the high moment splice end. An equation for splice design was developed for specimens of the type tested. Experimental results are discussed in terms of load versus displacement, energy absorption, stiffness reduction, main bar strain variation, compression splice behavior and bond-shear interaction.