Experimental study and FEA on seismic performance of new hybrid precast concrete shear walls

The area of pretressing tendons, prestressing stresses, unbonded lengths and the axial compression ratios are the key design parameters of new hybrid precast concrete shear walls (NHPW). Based on the completed tests, supplementary tests on three NHPW specimens with different areas of prestressing tendons were carried out and corresponding finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted by ABAQUS. Test results show that, compared to the cast-in-situ specimens, NHPW specimens possesses improved anti-cracking ability, capacity strength, stiffness, and similar displacement ductility as well as the energy-dissipating capacity. Under constant prestressing forces, the variation of pretressing tendon area has little impact on the seismic behavior of the NHPW specimens. FEA results show that, compared to the area of pretressing tendons and the unbonded lengths, the prestressing stresses and the axial compression ratios have more obvious effect on NHPW lateral resistance. For the tested NHPW specimens, the number of pretressing tendons, the prestressing force, and the unbonded length of grouted steel bar are suggested as 3416.6kN and 150mm, respectively. © 2018, Editorial Office of China Civil Engineering Journal. All right reserved.