Effect of HPFRCC on Cyclic Behavior of Diagonally Reinforced Coupling Beams

Abstract

Coupled shear wall system have been widely used in building construction due to their effectiveness in resisting lateral loads. In this system, individual shear walls are connected by concrete diagonally reinforced coupling beams (DRCBs), by which the coupled shear walls act as a single unit. However, difficulties are often arisen when placing reinforcement in DRCBs at construction sites because of congestion and interference of diagonal, transverse, and longitudinal reinforcement. To alleviate such difficulties, high performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC) can be used to construct DRCBs instead of concrete. In this study, two concrete and four HPFRCC DRCBs were made and tested under cyclic loads. Test variables were the amount of diagonal and transverse reinforcement as well as the application of HPFRCC. Test results showed that the HPFRCC DRCB specimen exhibited superior cyclic behaviour to the code-compliant standard concrete DRCB specimen, although HPFRCC specimens had only 50% of the transverse reinforcement placed in the standard specimen. However, the application of HPFRCC alone was not effective to reduce diagonal reinforcement.