Experimental investigation of seismic performance of a novel isostatic frame-cladding system

Abstract

A new connection measure between the precast concrete (PC) cladding panel and PC frame structure is proposed to realize a new kind of isostatic frame-cladding system. Three full-scale PC wall-frame substructures were tested under the quasi-static load. These substructures included a bare wall-frame specimen, a specimen with a cladding panel that has no opening, and a specimen with a cladding panel that has an opening in it. The damage evolution, failure mode, load-bearing capacity, deformation capacity, and energy dissipation capacity of three specimens were compared. The results indicated that the motions of the cladding panels and the main structures were uncoupled through the relative clearance of the bottom connections, and three specimens exhibited approximately identical failure modes and seismic performance. Thus, the reliability of this new isostatic system was validated.

Full-scale shaking table test on seismic performance of a steel frame with translational-type precast-concrete exterior wall panel

“…The researchers found that the flexible damping connectors externally hung on the wall panels improved the interlaminar deformation uniformity of a braced steel frame fabricated with layered structure, and exhibited good seismic performance and post-earthquake recoverability. Chong et al [17] investigated the seismic performance of exterior wall panels with a pair of U-shaped steel plate energy absorbers, and the results demonstrated that in case of the crawler-type rolling deformation, the U-shaped steel plate energy absorber improved the energy dissipation capacity and deformation performance of the overall structure. Longjam and Shirai [18] evaluated the transfer function for displacement and acceleration of the mainframe and subframe under various structural parameters using a two-degrees-of-freedom model.…”