Experimental study and parameter analysis on the seismic performance of self-centering hybrid reinforced concrete shear walls

Abstract

To enhance the energy dissipation ability of self-centering shear walls, various types of dampers can be incorporated into the rocking surface of a reinforced concrete (RC) wall, which is called a self-centering hybrid shear wall. This paper focuses on self-centering hybrid RC shear walls, which are self-centering shear walls with partially unbonded mild steels. A cyclic loading test was carried out to study the seismic behavior of this type of shear walls compared with conventional precast RC shear walls. The test results showed that the self-centering hybrid RC shear walls displayed better deformation ability and re-centering ability. A multi-truss element model was used to simulate test results in the OpenSees software. To further study the seismic performance of self-centering hybrid RC shear wall, a parameter analysis was performed considering five parameters: wall aspect ratio, initial stress of post-tensioned (PT) tendons, the total area of PT tendons, the total area of mild steels, and yielding tensile strength of mild steels. The results of the parameter analysis showed that the most efficient method for improving the energy dissipation ability of the self-centering hybrid RC shear wall was increasing the area of mild steels. The parameter analysis also revealed that the drift capacity in the yielding state can be improved remarkably with the increase of the wall aspect ratio, as well as that the initial stress of PT tendons should be restricted.