Abstract:
The worldwide use of reinforced concrete construction stems from wide availability of
the reinforcing steel as well as the concrete ingredients. Concrete construction does,
however, require a certain level of technology, expertise, and workmanship, particularly
in the field during construction. As a supporting technology for concrete column or wall
construction, a kicker is cast as part of the slab or foundation to provide a convenient
starting point for a wall or column and to ensure integrity at this important junction. A
comprehensive study was carried out here to investigate the behavior of reinforced
concrete frame with different kicker thicknesses. To achieve this objective, six half-scale
specimens of a portal reinforced concrete frame with kickers and one portal frame
without kicker were constructed according to common practice in the industry and
subjected to cyclic incremental horizontal loading with sustained gravity load. In this
study, the experimental data obtained in four deflection controlled cycles, were used to
study the performance of kickers. Load-displacement characteristics were obtained; and
maximum loads and deflections were measured and assessed. Finally, the test results of
frames with three different types of kicker thicknesses were compared with the test
results of a kickerless frame. Similar crack patterns were observed for all the specimens.
The reinforced concrete frames with increased kicker thickness showed improved
performance in respect of load capacity, stiffness, initiating first crack and residual
displacement. Comparing with kickerless specimen it was observed that performance of
kickerless specimen was relatively better.
