In this study, the cyclic behaviors of low rise concrete shear walls using recycled coarse or fine aggregates were investigated. Eight low rise Recycled Aggregates Concrete (RAC) shear wall specimens were designed and tested under a cyclic loading. The following parameters were varied: replacement percentages of recycled coarse or fine aggregates, reinforcement ratio, axial force ratio and X-shaped rebars brace. The failure characteristics, hysteretic behavior, strength and deformation capacity, strain characteristics and stiffness were studied. Test results showed that the using of the Recycled Coarse Aggregates (RCA) and its replacement ratio had almost no influence on the mechanical behavior of the shear wall; however, the using of Recycled Fine Aggregates (RFA) had a certain influence on the ductility of the shear wall. When the reinforcement ratio increased, the strength and ductility also increased. By increasing the axial force ratio, the strength increased but the ductility decreased significantly. The encased brace had a significant effect on enhancing the RAC shear walls. The experimental maximum strengths were evaluated with existing design codes, it was indicated that the strength evaluation of the low rise RAC shear walls can follow the existing design codes of the conventional concrete shear walls.

In order to quantitatively evaluate the shear-bearing capacity of shear connectors of square concrete filled steel tube (CFST), push-out tests on 14 square CFSTs with shear connectors have been carried out. Among the 14 CFSTs, there are 13 specimens with steel plate connectors and one specimen with steel bar connectors. The following factors are investigated to figure out their influences on the performance of CFSTs, which are the width to thickness ratio of steel tube, thickness of steel plate, length of steel plate, strength of concrete, welding condition of steel plate, number of steel plate layer and interlayer spacing. The test results show that the ultimate bearing capacity and the elastic stiffness increase with decreasing width to thickness ratio of the steel tube, and increasing thickness and length of the steel plate. With increasing concrete strength, the ultimate bearing capacity also increases. However, the welding condition has no effect on the ultimate bearing capacity. The ultimate bearing capacity of the CFST with double-layer steel plate is greater than that with single-layer steel plate. The ultimate bearing capacity of steel bar type shear connector is 87% greater than that of the steel plate type shear connector, and the steel bar specimen shows good ductility. A formula for calculating the shear-bearing capacity of shear connectors has been developed, and the calculated shear-bearing capacities are in good agreement with the test data.

Recycled concrete brick (RCB) is manufactured by recycled aggregate processed from discarded concrete blocks arising from the demolishing of existing buildings. This paper presents research on the seismic performance of RCB masonry walls to assess the applicability of RCB for use in rural low-rise constructions. The seismic performance of a masonry wall is closely related to the vertical load applied to the wall. Thus, the compressive performance of RCB masonry was investigated firstly by constructing and testing eighteen RCB masonry compressive specimens with different mortar strengths. The load-bearing capacity, deformation and failure characteristic were analyzed, as well. Then, a quasi-static test was carried out to study the seismic behavior of RCB walls by eight RCB masonry walls subjected to an axial compressive load and a reversed cyclic lateral load. Based on the test results, equations for predicting the compressive strength of RCB masonry and the lateral ultimate strength of an RCB masonry wall were proposed. Experimental values were found to be in good agreement with the predicted values. Meanwhile, finite element analysis (FEA) and parametric analysis of the RCB walls were carried out using ABAQUS software. The elastic-plastic deformation characteristics and the lateral load-displacement relations were studied.

The seismic performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) composite shear walls with different expandable polystyrene (EPS) configurations was investigated. Six concrete shear walls were designed and tested under cyclic loading to evaluate the effect of fine RAC in designing earthquake-resistant structures. Three of the six specimens were used to construct mid-rise walls with a shear-span ratio of 1.5, and the other three specimens were used to construct low-rise walls with a shear-span ratio of 0.8. The mid-rise and low-rise shear walls consisted of an ordinary recycled concrete shear wall, a composite wall with fine aggregate concrete (FAC) protective layer (EPS modules as the external insulation layer), and a composite wall with sandwiched EPS modules as the insulation layer. Several parameters obtained from the experimental results were compared and analyzed, including the load-bearing capacity, stiffness, ductility, energy dissipation, and failure characteristics of the specimens. The calculation formula of load-bearing capacity was obtained by considering the effect of FAC on composite shear walls as the protective layer. The damage process of the specimen was simulated using the ABAQUS Software, and the results agreed quite well with those obtained from the experiments. The results show that the seismic resistance behavior of the EPS module composite for shear walls performed better than ordinary recycled concrete for shear walls. Shear walls with sandwiched EPS modules had a better seismic performance than those with EPS modules lying outside. Although the FAC protective layer slightly improved the seismic performance of the structure, it undoubtedly slowed down the speed of crack formation and the stiffness degradation of the walls.

In order to research the effect of different layout forms of steel plate on the axial compression behavior of a steel plate-concrete composite shear wall, this paper presents the experimental results and analysis of the axial compression behavior of a composite shear wall, with different layout forms of steel plate. A total of three tests were carried out, composed of two composite walls with built-in steel plate, and one composite wall with two skins of steel plate. The gross dimensions of the three specimens were 1206 mm × 2006 mm × 300 mm. Experimental results show that the composite wall with two skins of steel plate has an optimal ability of elastic-plastic deformation, and the maximum axial compressive bearing capacity among the three specimens. Using the energy method, the critical local buckling stresses of steel plate were calculated, and compared with the yield stresses. According to different confined actions of concrete, concrete constitutive models were proposed, and the axial compressive strengths of confined concrete were calculated. Considering the local buckling of steel plate and confined concrete, the calculation formula of the axial compression of the composite wall was put forward, and the calculated results were in good agreement with the test results. Therefore, the different layout forms of steel plate have a great influence on its buckling, and on the concrete inhibition effect, which can affect the axial compressive bearing capacity of the composite wall.

A method is presented to predict the complete stress-strain curves of concrete subjected to triaxial stresses, which were caused by axial load and lateral force. The stress can be induced due to the confinement action inside a special-shaped steel tube having multiple cavities. The existing reinforced confined concrete formulas have been improved to determine the confinement action. The influence of cross-sectional shape, of cavity construction, of stiffening ribs and of reinforcement in cavities has been considered in the model. The parameters of the model are determined on the basis of experimental results of an axial compression test for two different kinds of special-shaped concrete filled steel tube (CFT) columns with multiple cavities. The complete load-strain curves of the special-shaped CFT columns are estimated. The predicted concrete strength and the post-peak behavior are found to show good agreement within the accepted limits, compared with the experimental results. In addition, the parameters of proposed model are taken from two kinds of totally different CFT columns, so that it can be concluded that this model is also applicable to concrete confined by other special-shaped steel tubes.