Influence of steel wires on the seismic performance of prestressed glulam beam-column bolted connections

In this paper, a novel prestressed glulam beam-column bolted connection was proposed. The novel prestressed connections were tensioned by prestressing devices, with excellent integral behavior and self-centering function. After an earthquake, prestressing devices could rapidly repair the deformation of connections to reduce structural damage. To analyze the influence of steel wires on the seismic performance of the connections, three groups of the connections were tested through reversed cyclic loading. The results showed that the proposed connections occurred ductile failure. When the number of the steel wires increased from 2 to 4 and 6, the peak load and the initial stiffness were enhanced, the energy dissipation capacity was enhanced by 29.9% and 25.9%, respectively, and the ductility performance was enhanced by 29.2% and 44.6%, respectively. Although increasing the number of the steel wires had no significant effect on strength degradation, it could slow down the stiffness degradation. Compared with conventional connections, the seismic performance of the novel prestressed connections was greatly improved, and the results of this paper could offer reference for relevant designs.