Macroscopic modelling of steel frames equipped with bolt-connected reinforced concrete panel wall

Abstract

This paper proposes a macroscopic numerical model for simulating the seismic behavior of steel frames equipped with bolt-connected reinforcement concrete panel wall (RPWF). The RPWF is a new type of lateral-resisting system, which was proposed by the authors. The RC panel wall is connected with steel beams by high-strength bolts. In the proposed numerical model, a RPW is modeled by Multiple-Vertical-Line-Element-Model (MVLEM) elements; the wall-to-frame bolt connection is modeled by two nonlinear springs, and a four-phase mechanical model is proposed to simulate the these springs; the deterioration effects of the steel components and the shear deformation of the panel zones are considered; the plastic hinge model is used to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the beam-column connections and the connections at column bases. Two RPWF specimens were tested to validate the proposed model, the results show that: the predicted results of the proposed model generally correlate well with the test results, the maximum error on ultimate capacity is 7.9% in the positive loading direction. Finally, nonlinear dynamic analyses are conducted on a 6-story planar steel frame and two RPWF structures, the maximum inter-story drift ratio of the planar steel frame is dramatically reduced by using the RPW. The results indicate that the RPW with the wall-to-frame bolt connections is good choice to strengthen steel frame structures.