Mechanical properties of full-grouted sleeves with grouting defects

Prefabricated concrete structure is an important aspect of the building structure development in China, while the grouted sleeve connection represents a key tool for connection on prefabricated concrete structure parts. Various grouting defects may arise during the prefabrication and actual construction processes, thereby causing unsafe connection among components. Here, we report determination of the mechanical properties of a full-grouted sleeve with grouting defects?using the defect position (end defect, middle defect, uniform defect, unilateral defect, and horizontal defect) and the defect length as test variables. We generated a total of 11 groups of full-grouted sleeve specimens, with one group as a full-grouted standard specimen. All specimens were subjected to a unidirectional tensile test, and failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity, load-slip curve, load-displacement curve as well as load-stress curve obtained. Meanwhile, the ANSYS software was used for numerical simulation. Notably, our numerical results corroborated experimental findings. The detailed profiles of mechanical properties of full-grouted sleeve connection with defects, described in this paper, are expected to serve both as a baseline and reference for further investigations.