Comparative experimental study of full‐scale H‐subframe using a new industrialized building system and monolithic reinforced concrete beam‐to‐column connection

SUMMARY Industrialized building system (IBS) is a construction process that uses techniques, products, components or building systems that involve prefabricated components and on‐site installation. The structural behaviour of a prefabricated frame structure is widely affected by the specifications of the beam‐to‐column connection. The understanding on the real behaviour of a connection can be assessed by conducting full‐scale experimental tests. In this study, a new IBS hybrid steel–concrete connection in a full‐scale H‐subframe under monotonic loading is investigated. This innovative connection system, consists of precast concrete beam‐and‐column elements with embedded steel end connectors, is patented as Smart IBS. This paper reports the testing procedures and results of this semi‐rigid IBS beam‐to‐column connection to obtain the important attributes of the connection as well as its comparison with monolithic cast‐in‐place reinforced concrete model. The height of both H‐subframes is 3.3 m while the free length of the beam is 3.2 m. The incremental loads were applied as two point loads in one‐third and two‐third of the beam length. The characteristic relationships of the connection such as load to mid‐span deflection, strength, stiffness, ductility, failure modes and crack patterns are studied and compared between both structural systems.