Research on Earthquake Performance of Novel Reinforced Concrete Wall Incorporating Removable Energy-Absorption Device: A Numerical Investigation

Incorporating walls in buildings is a successful way to improve the resilience of a building to tolerate seismic activity. The shear wall has an adequate capacity for resisting lateral forces. As a result, seismically resilient structures have drawn more attention from researchers. A novel resilient shear wall system with post-tensioned tendons has been developed to address the limitations of classic RC shear walls. However, the energy absorption of the system is still insufficient. To tackle this issue, additional mild steel reinforcement is added at the intersection of the wall and the foundation, known as internal energy dissipating reinforcement. However, replacing this reinforcement after an earthquake is a significant concern. To address this, a new system is proposed, which includes a corner-energy-absorption reinforcement device (CEARD) affixed at the bottom edges of the wall panel, making it easier to place and replace. To verify the seismic performance of the reinforced concrete shear walls, a numerical model is developed for the post-tensioning shear wall and validated by practical findings. A numerical study has examined the effect of mild-stress steel and post-tensioning forces on the behavior of shear walls. The findings suggest that the reinforced concrete wall with CEARD has good load-bearing and lateral rigidity, energy-dissipation ability, self-centering capability, low damage, and better performance (25% and 35%) than structures without CEARD. The function of the proposed novel system of reinforced concrete walls can be swiftly repaired by removing CEARD after an earthquake, which will maintain its preparedness for the subsequent earthquake disturbance.