The effect of precast concrete infill wall on the seismic performance of PCCSW

Lateral stiffness provided by infill walls to the building structures is generally neglected in designs. However, the infill walls, served as the main nonstructural component, have significant influence on the seismic behavior of the main structures during seismic events. To investigate the effects of the infill walls on the seismic behavior of the precast concrete (PC) coupled shear walls (PCCSW) with infill walls, lateral cyclic loading tests were conducted on three PC coupled shear walls, including two specimens with rigid and flexible connections between the PC coupled shear walls and infill walls, and a specimen without infill walls for comparison. The test results showed that the infill walls can improve the strength and stiffness of the PC coupled shear walls but at the cost of the ductility and energy dissipation, especially for the specimen PCCSW with rigid connection. In addition, the finite element analysis (FEA) models of the PC coupled shear walls were proposed, and the reliability and accuracy of the FEA models were validated based on the test results. Subsequently, a parameter study was conducted to assess the influence of the critical parameters on the mechanical behaviour of the shear wall. Finally, the simplified calculation methods for the peak strength of the shear wall were also proposed, and the theoretical results matched well with the test and simulation results.