Seismic performance of composite shear walls with embedded FCCCs in boundary elements

Abstract

A novel composite concrete shear wall with FRP-Confined Concrete Cores (FCCCs) arranged in the boundary elements is proposed. A series of quasi-static tests are performed to evaluate the seismic performance of the proposed composite shear walls. The specimens are subjected to combined constant vertical loading and cyclic lateral loading. The tested variables include the concrete strength of FCCC, the number of FCCC in the boundary elements, and the cross-section of the composite shear wall. Based on the test results, systematic discussions on the seismic behavior of the composite shear walls, including the failure mode, the hysteretic response, the energy dissipation, the stiffness/strength degradation, etc., are presented. It is found that the composite shear walls demonstrate similar lateral load resistance but much better deformability and energy dissipation compared with ordinary RC shear wall. Finally, numerical simulations were performed based on the software OpenSees. The FE results were in good agreement with test results. The influence of various parameters on the seismic behavior of composite shear wall was discussed based on parametric studies.