Study on a new shear wall system with shaking table test and finite element analysis

A new seismic energy dissipation shear wall structure is proposed in this paper. The new shear wall is one with purposely built-in vertical slits within the wall panel, and rubber belts as seismic energy dissipation devices are installed in the vertical slits. In order to verify this concept, shaking table tests of a 10-storey shear wall model with rubber belts filled in the vertical slits were carried out, and comparison of seismic behaviour was made between the new shear wall system and a shear wall with reinforced concrete connecting beams as energy dissipation. Furthermore, the seismic behaviour of this new shear wall is analysed by a finite element time history analysis method. The test and analysis show that the new shear wall system has a very good ability to dissipate seismic energy and is easy to use in engineering practice.