Shaking Table Test of Mid-Rise Concrete Shear Walls with a Single Layer of Web Reinforcement and Inclined Steel Bars

Abstract

The authors proposed an innovative concrete shear wall, a concrete shear wall with a single layer of web reinforcement and inclined steel bars. This arrangement of inclined steel bars was designed to enhance the wall’s seismic performance. The dynamic behaviours of mid-rise concrete shear walls, each with a single layer of web reinforcement and inclined steel bars, were investigated in the paper. Four mid-rise shear walls, each with a single layer of web reinforcement, were tested in this project. The web reinforcement and the arrangement of the inclined steel bars were taken as major test variables. The dynamic characteristics and responses of all specimens at different loading stages were determined experimentally, and a comparison of failure modes was performed. The earthquake response time history analysis of each specimen was also conducted using the finite element software ABAQUS. Based on test, the dynamic characteristics, dynamic responses and failure mode of each model under elastic and elastic–plastic deformation stages were compared and analysed. The results show that the configuration of inclined steel bars can effectively improve the seismic capacity and decrease the earthquake damage of mid-rise concrete shear walls with a single layer of web reinforcement.