Macroscopic modelling of steel frames equipped with bolt-connected reinforced concrete panel wall

摘要

This paper proposes a macroscopic numerical model for simulating the seismic behavior of steel frames equipped with bolt-connected reinforcement concrete panel wall (RPWF). The RPWF is a new type of lateral-resisting system, which was proposed by the authors. The RC panel wall is connected with steel beams by high-strength bolts. In the proposed numerical model, a RPW is modeled by Multiple-Vertical-Line-Element-Model (MVLEM) elements; the wall-to-frame bolt connection is modeled by two nonlinear springs, and a four-phase mechanical model is proposed to simulate the these springs; the deterioration effects of the steel components and the shear deformation of the panel zones are considered; the plastic hinge model is used to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the beam-column connections and the connections at column bases. Two RPWF specimens were tested to validate the proposed model, the results show that the predicted results of the proposed model generally correlate well with the test results, the maximum error on ultimate capacity is 7.9% in the positive loading direction. Finally, nonlinear dynamic analyses are conducted on a 6-story planar steel frame and two RPWF structures, the maximum inter-story drift ratio of the planar steel frame is dramatically reduced by using the RPW. The results indicate that the RPW with the wall-to-frame bolt connections is good choice to strengthen steel frame structures.