Numerical Study of Embedded Length Effect in Pocket Colum Connection

This article presents the behavior study of pocket column connection due to variations of embedded length and rebar reinforcement quality. A pocket column connection is a system in which a concrete precast column is placed inside as an embedded length in the foundation gap. The pocket column connection has better ductility compared to a monolith column. Recent research discusses different embedded length pocket column connections that are experimentally studied using high-quality steel rebar reinforcement. The embedded length, as an element of pocket connection columns, can make the element perform better because the crack pattern happens outside of the area. This numerical study aims to learn the behavior of modeling high-quality precast concrete columns with pocket connection systems with variations of embedded length. Pocket column connections are modeled using the ABAQUS program under axial and lateral static load separately. Material properties and geometries are numerically modeled. Concrete damage plasticity defines the concrete material properties with compressive strength of 54.4 MPa. The steel qualities are compared between 580 and 420 MPa. The results show that the rebar insignificantly affects axial load resistance; however, for lateral load, the reinforcement variables have a great influence. Furthermore, the embedded length varies between 2D and 1.6D, while D is a column width. Variations of embedded length and steel quality affect the load–displacement and stress pattern result. For static loading, the depth of embedded length affects the load resistance.