Evaluation of seismic performance of RC structures with prestressed walls

The current study evaluated the earthquake resistance of a new structural system consisting of prestressed concrete exterior walls to withstand and transfer loads and reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. The loading and transport values for the floors for dead and live loads on the walls were obtained. Next, prestressed concrete walls for 3, 7, 12 and 20 story buildings 12, 15, 20 and 20 cm in thickness, respectively, were modeled in Abaqus software and analyzed based on ACI protocol to 3.5% drift under cyclic loading. The hysteresis curves and calculated behavior factor of the walls show that this structural system has dual behavior against cycle loading. Up to the point of tendon yielding, the structure showed linear behavior. After tendon yielding, a drop in strength due to the loss of the prestressing effect and RC wall resistance to cyclic loading can be observed in the hysteresis curves. This indicates that the structural behavior factor can vary in response to this dual behavior.

Keywords:

Prestressed wall , Seismic resistance , Prestressed structural system , Cyclic loading , Behavior factor , Nonlinear analysis