Experimental Verification of Vertical Joints in an Innovative Prefabricated Structural Wall System

Abstract

In order to verify the viability of the new-type vertical joints (composed of high-strength bolts, connecting steel frames, embedded limbic steel frames, and steel sleeves) in an innovative prefabricated structural wall (IPSW) system, low-cyclic reversed loading tests (pseudo-static tests) were performed on two H-shaped test specimens fabricating from precast web wall panel and precast flange wall panels joined together through the novel vertical joints. On the basis of the loading procedure and test data, the global behavior (including failure modes, lateral stiffness, ductility, and energy-dissipating capacity) and the local performance (including the stress distribution in the connecting steel frames and the relative slippages between the connection components) of the test specimens were detailedly discussed and presented. The research results demonstrated that the connectors were strong enough for maintaining the web wall panel and flange wall panels work together as an entirety to resist lateral seismic force, no slippages occurred on the contact interfaces between the connecting steel frame and embedded limbic steel frame throughout the loading procedure, and the vertical shear stress at the midpoint of the connecting steel frame (close to zero) was far smaller than that at its lower end (still much less than its yield strength). This experimental research confirms the viability and reliability of the new-type vertical joints, although the configurations of the precast wall panel as well as the vertical joints need indispensable improving to optimize the seismic performance of the entire test specimen.

Experimental study of lateral load behavior of H‐shaped precast reinforced concrete shear walls with bolted steel connections

“…The results from the proof‐of‐concept testing studies, supported by the theoretical analysis, demonstrated that the general idea of assembling wall units through bolted steel connectors was workable in terms of both the assembling procedure and the anticipated effect. The vertical bolted connections could effectively connect the longitudinal and transverse precast wall panels and completely transfer the interactional forces between them such that the wall assembly works as a composite unit to resist the lateral seismic load.…”

“…The vertical connections in the H‐shaped shear wall serve to join the adjacent longitudinal and transverse walls (i.e., flange and web, respectively) together through shear transfer between the flange and web walls to ensure the whole unit acts as an entirety to resist the lateral loading. Therefore, during the monotonic tests, some strain rosettes, as mentioned in Section , were installed on CSF web and flange to measure the strain state.…”

“…Preliminary specimens WV‐1 and WV‐2 and ultimate failure mode: (a) wall configuration; (b) typical failure mode…”

“…The loading was applied in a force‐controlled manner or displacement‐controlled manner with a loading rate of 0.5 mm per minute. On the basis of the experiences from the preliminary experiment, the loading scheme for each test here was pre‐scheduled as shown in Table .…”

Lateral load behaviour of a rectangular precast shear wall involving vertical bolted connections

“…Both the feasibility and the reliability of the assembling scheme using bolted connections were confirmed and the working mechanisms of the two types of connections were further analysed. The vertical bolted connections in the literature (Sun et al, 2015) served to join the longitudinal and transverse precast RC walls together forming an H-shaped wall unit to resist the lateral seismic load. However, another kind of vertical connections is also common in this system, which joins two parallel precast shear walls together to work as a monolithic RC shear wall.…”