Seismic performance of assembled concrete shear wall with vertical shell and multi-loop connections

A precast concrete shear wall with vertical shell and multi-loop connections was proposed in this study, which can achieve the on-site fully assembled construction process. The horizontal steel bars within the vertical joints were connected using the proposed multi-loop connections while the concrete shell in prefabricated wall panel can serve as the permanent formwork for the post-cast concrete casting within vertical joints. Quasi-static cyclic tests were conducted on two shear wall specimens, including one cast-in-place specimen and one precast specimen. The DIC system was employed to observe and compare the concrete crack development between the two specimens. The structural behaviors of the two specimens under seismic loads including failure modes, load-bearing capacity, strength and stiffness degradation were investigated and compared. The test results indicated that the precast specimen showed similar failure mode with the tensile rapture of horizontal steel bars to the cast-in-place specimen, while the precast specimen exhibited the 9.2 % higher bearing capacity than that of cast-in-place specimen. Both the stiffness and strength degradation of the precast specimen were similar to the cast-in-place specimen. Interface shear deformation of the vertical joint has been conducted using DIC system, and the interface shear capacity is proved to be larger than the vertical interface shear force. The proposed vertical joint was proved to be free of interface shear failure.