HYSTERESIS PERFORMANCE OF RC FRAME-ASSEMBLED INFILL WALLS BASED ON HOLLOW T-TYPE ENERGY-DISSIPATING CONNECTORS

Under seismic action, the infill wall and the frame, as a whole, resist seismic action together, and a suitable wall-frame connection can mitigate the interaction between the two, thus improving the overall seismic performance of the structure. In this study, a new type of assembled energy- dissipating infill wall is designed, in which the wall panels are flexibly connected to the frame through unique hollow T-shaped metal energy- dissipating connectors, and flexible materials such as polyurethane foam are added in the gaps. By varying the key parameters such as the thickness of the energy- dissipating connector, analyzed are the number of assembled wall panels, the strength of the wall panel material, and the density of the polyurethane foam, the effects of these parameters on the damage characteristics, the skeleton curves, and the energy-dissipating capacity of the energy- dissipating infill wall of reinforced concrete (RC) frames. The results show that the new energy- dissipating infill wall has a strong energy-dissipating capacity under seismic action, and that the hollow T-type metal energy- dissipating connectors and flexible infill materials such as polyurethane foam can effectively improve the overall energy-dissipating property of the structure, which provides a new idea and method to improve the seismic performance of the structure.