Conventional and High-Strength Hooked Bars—Part 1: Anchorage Tests

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the anchorage strength of conventional and high-strength steel hooked bars. Three hundred and thirty-seven exterior beam-column joint specimens were tested with compressive strengths ranging from 4300 to 16,500 psi (30 to 114 MPa). Parameters investigated included the number of hooked bars per specimen, bar diameter, side cover, amount of confining reinforcement, hooked bar spacing, hook bend angle, hook placement, and embedment length. Bar stresses at failure ranged from 22,800 to 144,100 psi (157 and 994 MPa). The majority of the hooked bars failed by a combination of front and side failure, with front failure being the dominant failure mode. Test results show that development lengths of hooked bars calculated based on ACI 318-14 are very conservative for No. 5 (No. 16) bars and become progressively less conservative with increasing bar size and concrete compressive strength.