Seismic behaviour of a novel hollow-core precast shear wall with cast-in-situ boundary elements

Abstract

A novel reinforced concrete hollow-core precast shear wall (HCPSW), including a precast hollow-core wall panel and cast-in-situ boundary elements is proposed in this study with two anti-seismic defence lines. To analyse the seismic behaviour of this wall, six full-scale specimens were tested under cyclic loading, including two types of HCPSWs with different reinforcements in the boundary elements and one group of solid shear walls for comparison. The test results indicated that the solid shear wall fractured suddenly along the inclined section after the peak load. In contrast, the HCPSW had one more damage evolution stage from the peak load to the ultimate load and could still support the vertical load by boundary elements after achieving the ultimate lateral load. The lateral bearing capacity of the HCPSW specimens was mainly determined by the shear behaviour of the precast wall panel. At the same concrete dosages, the HCPSWs had a comparable lateral bearing capacity and better energy dissipation than the walls with a solid section. To calculate the lateral bearing capacity of this novel wall, a theoretical calculation method based on the softened strut-and-tie model was developed, which had good prediction accuracy for the tested specimens.