Experimental investigation of shear walls using carbon fiber reinforced polymer bars under cyclic lateral loading

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the seismic behavior of shear walls reinforced with CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) bars as longitudinal reinforcement. Three full-scale shear walls with same geometry and dimension were tested up to failure under pseudostatic cyclic lateral loading. The first one was a conventional reinforced wall (as a reference specimen). The second was reinforced with steel bars in boundary elements and CFRP bars in the wall web as vertical reinforcements. The third was reinforced with CFRP bars totally in the vertical direction. Residual deformations and cracks were of particular interest. The experimental results show that the CFRP-reinforced shear wall achieved comparable lateral strength, post-yield stiffness, acceptable lateral drift and lower level of energy dissipation compared with the reference wall. Besides, excellent self-centering behavior was observed, and the residual deformation of CFRP-reinforced shear walls decreased by more than 50% compared to the reference wall at a lateral drift of 1.0%. These promising results demonstrate the feasibility of CFRP bars as linear-elastic material to achieve self-centering behavior of shear wall.