Experimental study on mechanical behaviors of new shear walls built with precast concrete hollow moulds

Large-scale model tests of one reinforced concrete shear wall and five new shear walls built with precast concrete hollow moulds (PCHM) were conducted under low cyclic lateral loading. Mechanical behaviours of the new shear walls were analysed including hysteretic behaviour, bearing capacity, deformability and connection performance of the wall bottom. Test results indicated that new shear walls built with PCHM failed as adaptive-slit shear walls and brittle failure mode was prevented. Though the shear bearing capacity decreased and this reduction was especially obvious for the specimen with higher axial compression ratio, the ductility factor of new shear walls was from 3.87 to 6.47, proved that the deformation capacity was improved greatly. The slipping deformation at the wall bottom accounted for less than 4% of the whole horizontal deformation, showing that the construction measures were reliable and the horizontal joint guaranteed the effective connection. It can also be concluded by the test analysis that enhancement of axial compression ratio and reduction of shear span ratio can increase the initial stiffness and confine the slipping deformation at the wall bottom as well as reduce the width of horizontal cracks.