Experimental assessment of the seismic performance of a prefabricated concrete structural wall system

In this study the authors investigated experimentally the behaviour of prefabricated reinforced concrete sandwich panels (RCSPs) under simulated seismic loading through a large experimental campaign. Tests were carried out on single full-scale panels with or without openings, simulating the behaviour of lateral resisting cantilever and fixed-end walls. Tests were also carried out on a 2-storey full-scale H-shaped structure constructed by individual panels which were properly joined together. The performance and failure mode of all panels tested revealed strong coupling between flexure and shear due to the squat-type geometry of the panels. However due to their well-detailed reinforcement, all panels exhibited only a relatively gradual strength and stiffness degradation and in no case did any panel suffer from sudden shear failure. The prefabricated walls of the structural system investigated herein seem to meet all the requirements of Eurocode 8 for walls to be designed as “large lightly reinforced walls”; however this assumption should be supported with further experimental and analytical studies.