DESIGN AND BEHAVIOR STUDY ON REINFORCED CONCRETE SHEAR WALLS WITH SELF-CENTERING CAPABILITY

An innovative reinforced concrete shear wall with self-centering capability, which can reduce serious damage at the foot parts of the wall and improve the ductility capacity and control the residual deformation of structures during earthquakes, was developed in this study. The self-centering force of the self-centering shear wall (SC-SW) was provided by the combination disc spring device installed at both sides of the wall, and the seismic energy was dissipated by the deformation of the wall. The finite element models of SC-SW and the general reinforced concrete shear wall SW1 were establilished based on the same geometric dimensions and reinforcement, as well as the similar loading rules. The bearing capacity, energy dissipation and deformation capabilities were compared between the two models. Results indicated that the innovative SC-SW exhibited better energy dissipation capability and bearing capacity, and the ductility capacity of SC-SW was increased by 40.95% compared with SW1. The innovative SC-SW with disc spring device can also provide the necessary lateral stiffness and the restoring force to reduce serious damage at the foot parts of the wall and even eliminate the residual deformation of components, so that the structure has a recoverable function after the earthquakes.