Mechanical property test and numerical analysis of a novel precast shear wall

Abstract

A novel fully assembled composite wall was developed to achieve a mechanical and convenient assembly connection with horizontal and vertical joints connected by bolts. Pseudo-static tests were conducted on four 1/2 scale assembled composite wall specimens, including three fully assembled composite walls and one specimen with vertical joints cast–in–situ. The horizontal joints of all specimens are connected by bolts with the same specification. Subsequently, a finite element model was constructed, and parametric studies were conducted. The test results indicate that the failure of all specimens was caused by the failure of the wallboard, and the connectors have no obvious plastic deformation. The bearing capacity and energy dissipation of the fully assembled composite walls are slightly less than those of the vertical joints cast–in–situ (91.8% and 90.3% respectively). However, their deformation capacity was similar. Overall, the proposed connection method has the potential to replace cast-in-place connected walls in low-rise buildings.