Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of Precast Shear Wall with Rabbet-Unbonded Horizontal Connection

This paper reports the results of a seismic performance study of a precast shear wall with a new horizontal connection. The new connection is the rabbet-unbonded horizontal connection, which is composed of rabbets and unbonded rebar segments. The rabbets are used to improve the shear capacity and prevent slippage of the connection, and the unbonded rebar segments are used to improve the ductility and energy dissipation. Three specimens were tested with different parameters under cyclic quasi-static loading. The test results showed that the specimen with a larger unbonded level had a richer hysteresis curve, larger ductility, larger energy dissipation, and slightly smaller bearing capacity. Moreover, in relation to the stiffness degradation, in the initial stage, the specimen with a larger unbonded level had a smaller stiffness, whereas in the last stage, the stiffnesses were similar regardless of the unbonded level. A parameter analysis using a finite element model proved that the ductility and energy dissipation of a shear wall with the rabbet-unbonded horizontal connection increased with the unbonded length and level. In addition, when the axial compression ratio increased, the bearing capacity increased, but the load–displacement curves decreased more rapidly. It was concluded that the unbonded length and unbonded level could effectively improve the ductility and energy dissipation of a shear wall. However, they should not be too large under high pressure, and the design suggestions for the new connection need further research considering other factors.