Effects of semi-rigid behavior on the seismic performance of the precast shear wall with a box-shaped connection joint

Bolted connections with obvious semi-rigid characteristics will experience additional moments caused by the second-order effects in structures, leading to inferior seismic performance of precast shear walls compared to cast-in-place shear walls. In order to investigate the influence of semi-rigidity, a new box-shaped connection with apparent semi-rigid features has been proposed. Cyclic loading tests were conducted on a full-scale shear wall specimen (BPSW) with a box-shaped connection and a cast-in-place shear wall specimen (SW1). Failure characteristics, seismic performance, and deformation composition were comprehensively analyzed. Test results indicate that that both BPSW and SW1 exhibit the same bending failure mode. The seismic performance, as indicated by the hysteretic envelope area in BPSW, is slightly smaller than that of SW1. The reduced ductility, initial stiffness, and energy dissipation in BPSW can be attributed to the semi-rigid behavior, which affects the deformation behavior of the precast shear wall structure. Additionally, the deformation composition analysis reveals that rotational deformation of the new box-shaped connection in BPSW cannot be ignored as it accounts for more than 30% of the horizontal displacement. In accordance with previous models, a theoretical model for rotational deformation that offers insights into the semi-rigid nature and seismic performance of the box-shaped connection is proposed. The proposed model demonstrates good agreement with experimental results and provides valuable insights into the semi-rigid behavior and seismic response of such precast connections.