SEISMIC EXPERIMENT AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS ON SELF-INSULATING STRUCTURAL WALLS WITH INNER SKELETON

A self-insulating structural wall with inner skeleton and its structural system were designed for realizing the integration of anti-seismic and energy-saving performance. A horizontal low-cyclic load test was conducted to investigate the wall's seismic performance, and it revealed the transformation process of the wall's failure mechanisms. Accordingly, the failure process was divided into three stages, including common working stage, transition stage and weak frame working stage. This study proposed cracking load and ultimate capacity formulas based on the wall's final failure mode and theoretical analysis of the test results. The two formulas were respectively established on the basis of the elastic equivalent model and the modified softened strut-and-tie model. The relative errors between theoretical analysis and test results were 3.2% and 3.3%, respectively, indicating the theoretical formulas have a clear physical significance and an adequate level of accuracy. Additionally, the experiment results verified the wall's superiorities, including seismic behavior, construction convenience and economic performance. The wall is well-suitable for application in multi-story residential buildings such as villages and towns.