PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL TESTS ON STEEL-CONCRETE HYBRID COUPLED WALL SUBCOMPONENTS

Single-pier steel and concrete hybrid coupled walls are a dissipative seismic-resistant system composed of a single reinforced concrete central wall connected to two side columns through horizontal steel dissipative beams. Previous studies proved that the system is a viable alternative to the more common solution with two reinforced concrete coupled walls, but also highlighted some issues to be solved to enhance the global performance of the system. The present paper shows possible enhancements of the original system in which, to limit the cracking of the wall due to the bending force acting at the base, the base cross section is reduced and two vertical steel profiles are added. In this way, the wall transfers the shear forces to the foundation, while the bending moment is resisted mainly by the vertical steel profiles. Experimental tests were conducted to preliminary investigate the global and local behavior of the system and to highlight the possible benefits gained from the proposed original solution. In this paper, the numerical study behind the design of the tested prototype and the main experimental outcomes are discussed.