Earthquake resistance of structural walls confined by conventional tie hoops and steel fiber reinforced concrete

Abstract

In the present study, the seismic performance of structural walls with boundary elements confined by conventional tie hoops and steel fiber concrete (SFC) was investigated. Cyclic lateral loading tests on four wall specimens under constant axial load were performed. The primary test parameters considered were the spacing of boundary element transverse reinforcement and the use of steel fiber concrete. Test results showed that the wall specimen with boundary elements complying with ACI 318-11 21.9.6 failed at a high drift ratio of 4.5% due to concrete crushing and re-bar buckling. For the specimens where SFC was selectively used in the plastic hinge region, the spalling and crushing of concrete were substantially alleviated. However, sliding shear failure occurred at the interface of SFC and plain concrete at a moderate drift ratio of 3.0% as tensile plastic strains of longitudinal bars were accumulated during cyclic loading. The behaviors of wall specimens were examined through nonlinear section analysis adopting the stress-strain relationships of confined concrete and SFC.