Study on seismic performance of ceramic concrete ribbed composite wall frame structure

To evaluate the seismic performance of ribbed composite wall frame structures utilizing the ceramic concrete as infill material, four scaled-down specimens were fabricated and subjected to low-cycle repeated loading tests. The study systematically investigated the failure modes, load transfer mechanisms, bearing capacity, deformation characteristics, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation capacity. The test results indicate that the failure path of the ribbed composite walls with the ceramic concrete generally follows the sequence of ‘blocks-ribs-frames,’ with ultimate failure characterized by buckling of longitudinal reinforcement at rib nodes, rib columns, and frame column corners, accompanied by concrete crushing and spalling. The incorporation of the ceramic concrete blocks as infill significantly improved elastic–plastic deformation capacity, load-bearing capacity, and overall ductility of the specimen. All specimens demonstrated ultimate interlayer displacement angles between 1/30 and 1/25, with ductility coefficients exceeding 2.0, indicating robust seismic deformation capacity. Finally, this study contributes two design-oriented advances beyond the experiments: an initial-stiffness estimator k0 for ribbed composite wall–frame systems that incorporates rib–panel interaction via calibrated factors, with a maximum error of ≤ 9 % against tests; and a mechanics-based shear-capacity model grounded in a softening strut-and-tie idealization that partitions the frame and internal wall contributions. Complementing these developments, a regression-based method was also established for calculating the initial stiffness of ceramic–concrete ribbed composite walls, while a shear capacity calculation method was proposed using the softening tension–compression strut model. Both analytical approaches showed good agreement with experimental results, confirming their applicability and providing a practicable route for preliminary design and engineering evaluation of ceramic–concrete ribbed composite walls in seismic regions.