Experimental investigation on seismic behavior of the precast shear wall systems with different connection methods under the coupling action of axial tension and cyclic horizontal load

Abstract

The grouting sleeve connection and lapped steel bars connection are widely used for the connection, while they often require skilled workers, concealed work, and high installation accuracy, and can be expensive and cause significant damage to horizontal construction joints under earthquakes or extreme winds. To address these issues, based on the lap-spliced connection, the angle steel connectors were installed on the precast shear walls and foundation beams to improve the shear resistance and connection performance of horizontal construction joints and reduce construction issues. In practice, shear walls in high-rise structures may experience the coupling action of axial tension and cyclic horizontal load under strong earthquakes or extreme winds, resulting in an unfavorable state of tension bending or tension shear coupling stress for the shear wall systems. As the height-width ratio of these structures increases, there is a significantly increased possibility of shear wall structures experiencing tension bending or tension shear. In this study, five shear walls with different connection methods were manufactured and tested under the coupling action of axial tension and cyclic horizontal load. And the results suggested that the shear resistance of precast concrete shear walls at the horizontal construction joint significantly influenced their seismic performance and concrete damage when subjected to axial tension and cyclic horizontal loads. The precast shear wall system that utilized lapped steel bars and angle steel connectors for connections exhibited the best seismic performance. Additionally, the continuous horizontal construction joint formed by integral prefabrication (containing the edge components) slightly reduced the seismic behavior of the novel precast shear wall system utilizing lapped steel bars and angle steel connectors. The new precast shear wall system utilizing angle steel connectors has the potential to be an effective means of providing seismic resistance in high-rise structures that are subjected to the coupling action of axial tension and cyclic horizontal load.