Experimental Study on Earthquake-Resilient Precast Shear Wall with Bolt-Plate Connectors

Abstract

ABSTRACT Precast shear wall (PSW) has been widely applied in building structures with advantages of good mechanical behavior and construction efficiency. To improve the seismic performance and the earthquake resilience of PSW, a new earthquake-resilient precast shear wall with bolt-plate connectors (ERPSW) was developed. Experimental study was conducted to investigate the seismic performance of the proposed ERPSW, including the failure mode, shear resistance, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, degradation in stiffness, etc. Moreover, seismic-damaged ERPSW was repaired by replacing the damaged connectors and tested again to verify the earthquake resilience through the comparisons with original test. Results demonstrated that the proposed ERPSW exhibited the similar mechanical behavior compared with the cast-in-situ shear wall, while developed higher shear capacity, better ductility, and energy dissipation capacity. The damage was concentrated in the bolt-plate connectors, consuming more than 85% of the total energy dissipation, while precast concrete wall almost remained elastic with few cracks. The seismic performance of seismic-damaged ERPSW was recovered after replacing the damaged members, exhibiting as good as seismic performance with the original one. Consequently, the utilization of bolt-plate connectors could ensure the reliable connection of PSW, enhance the seismic performance as well as satisfy the requirement of earthquake resilience with convenient replacement.