Effect of reinforcement details on seismic behavior of precast concrete wall-steel coupling beam systems

Abstract

Given that current code provisions do not include a detailed design method for either precast or monolithic concrete walls with steel coupling beams, experimental and analytical studies of precast concrete (PC) wall-steel coupling beam systems were carried out. For the experimental part, large-scale cyclic tests of PC wallsteel beam connection subassemblies were performed with a test parameter of reinforcement details in the PC wall and all the same other design parameters such as the embedment length of steel section in the PC wall and the size and end connection details of the steel coupling beam. The overall design methodology for the said systems was first discussed; the seismic behavior of each test specimen with different reinforcement details was investigated; and using the test results and analytical methods, adequate seismic details were finally proposed. The test results indicate that the reinforcement details in the PC wall had a substantial effect on the seismic behavior of the tested specimens, and that the suggested reinforcement details performed very well under reversed cyclic inelastic deformations.