Design parameter study based on nonlinear analysis of a bolt-connected precast concrete composite wall panel structure

This paper presented an innovative numerical modelling method for bolt-connected precast wall panels, and a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model based on a full-scale two-story bolt-connected precast concrete composite wall panel structure tested on a shake table was proposed for nonlinear dynamic analysis. The wall panels were schematized with multi-layer shell elements, whereas all bolted joints were described with 3-DoF nonlinear springs. The mean error rates between the numerical and experimental results of translational periods, maximum lateral displacements, and maximum accelerations were 13.10%, 10.71%, and 8.31%, respectively, showing that the proposed FE model possessed the ability to capture global and local responses. Parametric studies were conducted based on the verified FE model to evaluate the effects of the design parameters, such as the column-to-column connection, size of window openings, and number of stories, on the seismic performance of the bolt-connected precast wall panels. In addition, a three-story structure with a window-to-wall ratio of 0.50 without connections between columns was modelled and loaded by high-intensity seismic excitation, which meets the plastic story drift limit of θ_u = 1/120 and shows good safety margins against earthquakes.