Seismic design and application of hybrid coupled walls with replaceable steel coupling beams in high-rise buildings

摘要

An innovative hybrid coupled wall system consists of reinforced concrete (RC) wall piers connected with replaceable steel coupling beams (RSCBs) throughout their height. The RSCBs are designed with a central "fuse" shear link connected to steel beam segments at both ends, which are capacity designed to remain elastic. During a damaging earthquake, the fuse shear links yield and dissipate seismic energy, and once damaged, they can be easily replaced due to specialized link-to-beam connection details. Therefore, this system is expected to provide enhanced seismic performance over a conventional RC coupled wall system, particularly in terms of repair costs and time after damaging earthquakes. This paper presents an overview of seismic design considerations of this new system, which is intended as a guide for design practitioners to adopt the system. Design procedure of this system is first summarized, followed by description of the coupling ratio selection, member sizing, connection detailing, and modeling recommendations of the system. Furthermore, an analytical case study for a high-rise building is presented to highlight the benefit of using this system for enhancement to overall building performance. In the end, this paper presents a few real-world applications of RSCBs in super-tall buildings in China.