A proposed clamp system for mechanical connection of reinforcing steel bars

The city development in Indonesia is more oriented to the overground space and this is because the urban population has increased significantly and it is incomparable with the land available in the cities. The number of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers also marks this phenomenon. However, high-rise buildings and skyscrapers have the potential to be vulnerable to the earthquake hazard in Indonesia particularly those located at the high risk seismic regions. In the design of seismic resistant buildings, there are two important aspects required to be considered, namely strength and ductility. The deformation capability and better innovative reinforcement connection become primary consideration in the design of seismic resistant structures. From the tensile tests of reinforcing steel bars with clamps, it is shown that D13 bars has the yield and ultimate tensile strengths of 270.69 and 351.45 MPa, respectively, with the maximum load of 4,757 kg and the maximum elongation of 40%. As for the D16 bars, the yield and ultimate tensile strengths of 217.80 and 327 605 MPa, respectively, with the maximum load of 6,717 kg and the elongation of 32%. In the study, two pieces of steel clamps were tested, it is found that to obtain better results there is a need to increase the number and improve the quality of material of the steel clamps.