A Comparative Study on Seismic Performance of Precast Shear Walls Designed with Different Variables

In order to assess the behavior of the precast shear walls with three different variables and promote the application of the new types of precast shear walls in structures, six precast shear walls with boundary elements designed based on Chinese code for design of concrete structures were tested under quasi-static cyclic loading. The three variables are reinforcement type, horizontal connection and vertical connection. In particular, there are three types of reinforcement, which are uniform, 3 x 3 and 4 x 4; three types of horizontal connection, which are dovetail joint, T-shape slot and rough surface; two types of vertical connection, which are welding and slurry sitting. Tests results indicate that the failure mode of specimens SW-1 through SW-5 was diagonal tension failure and failure mode of specimen SW-6 was shear sliding; the three variables have effect on peak load, drift ratios and ductility; the combination of reinforcement type "4 x 4", dovetail joint and welding make an improvement on peak load, ductility and energy dissipation; while the T-shape slot is not applicative preferentially in horizontal connection and the slurry sitting vertical connection type is not recommended in mid-rise buildings.