Shear tests on demountable precast column connections

Lately, there has been increasing demand for structural solutions and building technologies with minimalized CO2 footprint. One way to approach the carbon neutrality is through reuse of structural components. In order to enable economic reuse of precast concrete elements, their connections must be designed to allow an effortless dismount. While dismount ability provides additional value to the structure, it cannot have a negative impact on other crucial properties of the connection. One of those properties is the load-transfer capacity. While the impact of improved demountability on the load-transfer of axial forces is negligible, the capacity of such joints to transfer shear forces can be questioned, as it is often assumed to rely on the friction generated along compressed section. This paper studies the effects of an improvement of demountability on the shear-transfer system in a bolted joint of precast concrete columns.