Cyclic behavior of shear walls with HPFRCCs in the inelastic deformation critical region

This study presents a structural application of high-performance fiber-reinforced cement composites in the inelastic deformation critical region of the shear wall to improve the performance and reduce the disadvantages of conventional reinforced concrete members. Six small-scale wall specimens with the same aspect ratio and various configurations were tested under reversed cyclic loading, and their cyclic behaviors were evaluated and compared. The fiber cementitious material examined in this study exhibited excellent pseudo strain-hardening behavior in tension and high tensile ductility. The results of the quasi-static cyclic tests revealed that the deformation compatibility between the steel reinforcements and high-performance fiber-reinforced cement composite (HPFRCC) matrix could maintain composite integrity. Accordingly, the damage tolerance of the wall specimens for high inelastic deformation could be improved. Furthermore, the ultimate deformation and energy dissipation capacities of the wall specimens were dominated by the ductility and stability of the longitudinal reinforcements. Consequently, the combination of highly ductile mixture material and buckling-restrained measures of steel reinforcement, such as the steel sleeve presented in this paper, was proposed for use in shear walls under moderate or even higher axial loads. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.