Experimental Study on Seismic Performance of Self‐Centering Concrete Wall Structures With Low Damage Infill Walls

ABSTRACT Self‐centering (SC) precast concrete wall structure is one of the effective systems to enhance seismic resilience within the low damage structures community, which fulfills the demand for low damage and high cost‐effectiveness. Most past studies have focused solely on the structural level, for example, on general seismic performance, the influence of different energy dissipation devices, and design methods. Little attention is paid to the coordination between SC wall and non‐structural components, such as infill walls, the latter of which plays an essential role in terms of achieving the integral seismic resilience of buildings. To this end, this study reports on the experimental results of SC wall structures incorporating various innovative infill walls. The primary objective of the proposed new infill walls is to coordinate the deformation between the structural skeleton and infill walls, thereby fostering an integrated seismic resilient structural system that is promising in earthquake‐prone areas. Moreover, the study explores the effectiveness of energy dissipators equipped between infill wall panels. One of the purpose of using addition damper in infills is to reduce energy dissipation demand for SC walls while preserving ease of replacement. The outcome of test results covers various aspects, including force–displacement relationships, degradation of structural performance indexes, residual displacement, response of slotted beams, energy dissipation, and some detailed results for the SC wall. Results indicate that the tested specimens incorporating infill walls exhibit great seismic performance in terms of achieving low damage and self‐centering behavior as expected. The inclusion of dampers between infill wall panels enhances energy dissipation capacity for structure. Notably, specimens equipped with U‐shaped steel dampers and viscoelastic dampers demonstrate significant improvements to energy dissipation capacity, as increased by 32.1% and 22.4% under design target displacement, respectively, compared with those without dampers.