Cyclic behavior of hollow-core precast shear walls subjected to different axial loads

Abstract

To avoid the brittle failure of low aspect ratio shear walls, a novel hollow-core precast shear wall (HCPSW) with boundary elements is proposed. HCPSW has good collapse resistance and higher out-of-plane lateral resistance compared to a solid shear wall with the same concrete consumption. In this study, the effects of the axial load ratio and horizontal reinforcement on the seismic behavior of HCPSW with low aspect ratios were investigated through eight tests of full-scale shear walls under vertical and lateral loads. The results show that the HCPSW with a low aspect ratio under an axial load ratio in the range of 0.2–0.6 formed the damage development process from the hollow core to other areas of the wall panel, thus avoiding the brittle failure of the overall shear failure. The proposed shear walls consume the seismic energy through concrete cracking along the hollow core. Therefore, the higher the axial load ratio, the higher the energy dissipation capacity because of a larger damage area in the hollow core. Increasing the diameter of the horizontal reinforcement effectively improved the bearing capacity of the specimen and reduced the residual deformation. A numerical model with high accuracy was established to simulate the seismic behavior of the HCPSW and perform parametric studies.