Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of PC Walls with Alveolar-Type Horizontal Joint under Pseudo-Static Loading

Abstract

There are many horizontal joints on precast concrete (PC) wall panel structures, which certainly has a significant impact on the seismic behavior of structures. This paper proposes a novel alveolar-type horizontal joint, which has advantages of convenient and rapid assembly. Six precast concrete wall specimens with alveolar-type joints were designed and constructed, and they were weakly connected by spliced rebars anchored into grouted sleeves to meet the requirements of structural performance. The pseudo-static loading tests on these specimens were conducted to investigate the effects of influencing factors, such as the axial compression ratio, the thickness of wall (interface contact area), and the addition of a vertical grouted sleeve connection at the horizontal joint, on the seismic performance of PC walls. Analyses and comparisons were conducted in terms of the cracking propagation pattern, failure modes, force–displacement hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, bearing capacity, ductility factors, and energy dissipation of PC walls. It was concluded that the axial compression ratio and adding grouted sleeve connection had a significant influence on the cracking mode of PC walls, whereas the impact of the wall thickness was slight. The shear capacity and energy dissipation capacity of specimen dramatically enhanced by increasing the axial compression ratio or adding grouted sleeve connection. The PC wall exhibits good ductility after adding the vertical grouted sleeve connection at a horizontal joint. However, the ductility factor increases firstly and then decreases in the enhancement of the axial compression ratio. The reduction in wall thickness has remarkable impacts on the shear strength and energy dissipation capacity of specimens, but the influences on ductility were not significant. The prediction method for calculating the shear capacity of PC walls with alveolar-type horizontal joints was proposed based on the experimental data, and these calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Simplified Analytical Methods for Prefabricated Concrete Wall Panel Building System with Alveolar-Type Joints

“…The axial compression ratio was 0.1 and the joint mortar was a high-strength material with a nominal strength of 50 Mpa. Conversely, the length of CW5~CW7 was 600 mm, with a 50 mm alveolar-type depth, and the axial compression ratio was controlled as 0, 0.1, and 0.2 [2], respectively. The cement mortar was used as a normal material, for which the design strength was 30 Mpa.…”

“…In recent years, precast construction technology has increased progressively and has been employed in a variety of structural applications. Prefabricated concrete wall panel building has become one of the most important developments in housing construction because of its sustainable development advantages, such as how it reduces formwork demand, saves on labor costs, and its quality control [1,2]. Prefabricated concrete wall panel building is a precast concrete construction technology that adopts factory precast concrete wall panel members as the main bearing members, which are connected into an integral whole through the on-site assembly.…”

“…Considering the shortcomings of the aforementioned connections and the prefabricated wall panel systems, in this paper, we propose a new, assembled, integral wall panel building system with flexible alveolar-type joints [2]. This system was based on the principle of mortise and tenon in traditional wooden structures and can be applied to both low-rise or multi-story residential buildings, as shown in Figure 1a.…”

Experimental research and theoretical analysis of novel polygon‐key assembly connections

“…The results show that the innovative precast RC shear walls are reliable, and no rebar is pulled out or seriously slipped. Cheng et al 20 conducted pseudo‐static loading tests of precast RC shear walls with alveolar‐type joints. It was concluded that the shear capacity and energy dissipation capacity of precast RC shear wall dramatically enhanced by adding alveolar‐type joints.…”

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Shear Performance of an Innovative Keyway Joint for Prefabricated Concrete Wall Panels

“…Poor shear performance at the horizontal joints can directly impact the overall reliability of these prefabricated concrete structures [20]. Currently, horizontal joint connection methods for prefabricated concrete wall panel structures include grouted sleeve connections, mortar anchorage overlaps, and bolt connections [21][22][23]. Research has shown that the interface connections between the horizontal joint layer and both the top and bottom prefabricated concrete components should not be overlooked [24,25].…”