Shaking Table Tests of Low-Rise Shear Walls Made of Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Abstract

Experimental studies on the structural reinforced-concrete shear wall members using recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) have been focusing on static loading conditions. The dynamic tests on the reinforced concrete members made of RAC are fairly few. Shaking table tests are necessary because it is difficult to predict the influence of variations in particular properties on the overall dynamic behaviour of the reinforced RAC shear walls made of various mixed materials. The aim of the research work presented in this paper was to investigate the dynamic behaviour of shear walls made of RAC, with different recycled aggregates and reinforcement arrangements, in comparison with shear walls made of natural aggregate concrete (NAC). Five low-rise shear walls were tested in this project: a shear wall made of NAC, a shear wall made of recycled coarse aggregate concrete, and three shear walls made of recycled coarse and recycled fine aggregate concrete with different reinforcement arrangements. Dynamic characteristics and responses of all specimens at different loading stages were determined experimentally, and a comparison of failure modes was presented. The earthquake response time-history analysis of each specimen was also conducted using the finite element software ABAQUS. The ABAQUS results showed good agreement with the test results. The comparison of results showed that, when the reinforcement arrangement was the same, the seismic performance of the shear wall made of recycled coarse and recycled fine aggregate concrete was weakened greatly compared with that of the shear wall made of NAC. The seismic performance of the shear wall made of recycled coarse aggregate concrete was similar to that of the shear wall made of NAC. The seismic resistance capacity of the shear wall made of RAC could be greatly improved by installing concealed bracings.