Preliminary study of hysteretic characteristics for concrete panels with unbonded steel plates or steel bars installed in the seam of panels

The numerical simulation for the hysteretic characteristics of a new type concrete shear wall with unbonded steel plates or steel bars installed in the horizontal seam of panels has been carried out to examine the working behavior of the panels under the reversal horizontal loading, and the effect of constructional details on the hysteretic behavior of the panels was also investigated. The analysis shows that, large vertical forces applied on the panels are avoided by the unbonded measures between the steel plates(or steel bars)and lower panel. The holes of the lower panel are punched shear by the unbonded steel plates or steel bars when the large relative lateral deformation, between the upper and lower panels, develops, and therefore the crack of panel occurs around the holes. The punching shear cracks are greatly reduced when the edge reinforcement, which is the horizontal steel plate reinforced by discontinuous vertical steel ribs, is embedded in the upper edge of the lower panel, and the hysteretic curves of panels are plump and stable after the yielding of the unbonded steel plates(or steel bars). Whereas, the crack of panels without the edge reinforcement occurs severely.