Research on design and mechanical behavior of a new horizontal connection device of prefabricated shear wall

Abstract

The mechanical properties of the connection joints/horizontal joints of the fabricated shear wall structure play a vital role in the fabricated structure. In order to improve the seismic performance of the fabricated shear wall structure, a new type of assembled shear wall horizontal connection device is designed and developed based on the principle of energy dissipation in this study. Two horizontal connection devices with different bolt number are designed and manufactured. The device comprises of high-strength bolts and Q345 steel. The dynamic mechanical behaviors are tested for the horizontal connection device under different sinusoidal loading frequencies. The influence laws of different bolt preload, loading frequencies and bolt numbers are explored on the mechanical properties of the device. The effect of friction temperature rise on the mechanical properties of the device is investigated. The experimental results indicate that the device can not only ensure the reliable connection of the structure, but also dissipate significant seismic energy by the internal friction of the device, so as to effectively reduce the seismic response of the structure and protect the main structure. Additionally, the energy dissipation capacity and secant stiffness of the device is proportional to the bolt preload, but the equivalent damping ratio is independent of the preload; the mechanical properties of the horizontal connection device hardly depend on the loading frequency; the increase of the bolt number can considerably enhance the energy dissipation of the device; Both the preload and loading frequency are important factors affecting the temperature rise of the device, but the temperature change has little effect on its mechanical behaviors.