الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Rapid construction of bridges has become a priority as traffic volumes are expected to increase exponentially in the next years all over the world. Precast concrete construction technique facilitates rapid construction of bridges with an improvement in constructability and reduction in traffic disruption and environmental impact. This research presents experimental and analytical studies to evaluate column-base pocket connections with rough surface interface. Three types of pocket connections have been investigated in this research as: external pockets, partially embedded pockets and internally embedded pockets. To compare the three types of pocket connections with the monolithic behavior, an experimental study was conducted including seven test specimens subjected to vertical and horizontal loads at column top with different eccentricities. The tested specimens included: two specimens with external pockets, two specimens with internally embedded pockets and two specimens with partially embedded pockets in addition to a pilot monolithic specimen. The embedded length to column width ratios were 1.6 and 1.06 for each type of the connections. The experimental observations and results show that a minimum of 95% of monolithic connection capacity was obtained for the six tested specimens. In order to have a better understanding regarding the tested pocket connection, nonlinear finite element analysis was carried out. Verification of the generated finite element models was conducted for the tested six specimens resulting in an acceptable simulation to the experimental results with maximum deviation in analytical capacity of 9%. from experimental results and finite element analysis, the failure criteria for
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each specimen was obtained and the difference in behavior between the investigated three types of pocket connections was clarified.
Using the experimental results and the verified finite element models, three strut and tie models are proposed to be used for the design of the three studied types of pocket connections.
Keywords: Pocket connections, strut and tie, rough surface, finite element