Journal:Journal of Structural Engineering-ASCE

Key Words:Coupling beams; High-toughness concrete; Strain hardening; Steel plate; Reversed cyclic loading; Seismic behavior; Ductile failure; Span-to-depth ratio

Abstract:In coupled shear wall or core wall systems, reinforced-concrete (RC) coupling beams are crucial to the seismic performance of the overall structure. These coupling RC beams, however, tend to undergo brittle shear failure, especially those with a small span-to-depth ratio (i.e., deep coupling beams). In this paper, an alternative RC coupling beam with high seismic resistance and high ductile behavior is proposed. The coupling beam is made of high-toughness concrete reinforced with an embedded vertical steel plate as well as steel bars. Three proposed steel plate–reinforced high toughness–concrete (PRHTC) coupling beams with different span-to-depth ratios (l/h=1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) were tested. All three PRHTC coupling beams behaved in a ductile manner with good hysteretic behavior and large energy-dissipating capacity. Both the embedded steel plates and the high-toughness concrete contributed greatly to the high performance of the PRHTC coupling beams. The test results also show that load-carrying capacity of the PRHTC coupling beams increases as the span-to-depth ratio decreased whereas deformation ductility remains stable.

Indexed by:Journal paper

Discipline:Engineering

First-Level Discipline:Civil Engineering

Volume:144

Issue:10

Page Number:04018170-1

Translation or Not:no

Date of Publication:2018-07-10

Included Journals:SCI

First Author:Wei Hou

Links to published journals:https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0002175