In situ lateral-loading test and micro–macro-scale simulation of an existing RC frame

An in situ pseudo-dynamic lateral loading test was conducted on a real three-storey, one-by-one bay RC frame structure to study its seismic performance. The test damage process shows that it is a column-sway collapse mechanism with the damage concentrated especially at the ends of the bottom columns. In accordance with the comparison of the macro-scale and micro-scale finite element models, an element-coupling model (ECM) is proposed to acquire the micro-scale damage details with suitable calculation cost. In the ECM, macro-scale and micro-scale elements are coupled together by the multi-point constraint equations, and a plastic-damage model with modified yield surface is used to describe the nonlinear behavior of the masonry material. The calculated results show that the ECM could correctly reflect the global behavior and the micro-scale damage details with efficient cost, and the relationship of the local damage and global performance could be obtained, which is helpful to study the damage mechanism.

► A lateral loading test has been conducted to study the mechanical behavior of real structure.
► An element-coupling model is presented to simulate the global–local mechanism of the test.
► The seismic behavior of walls and damage details in micro-scale are discussed.