Cyclic loading test of T‐shaped mid‐rise shear wall

Shear wall systems are the most commonly used lateral load resisting systems in high‐rise buildings. Six 1:2 scale mid‐rise T‐shaped reinforced concrete shear wall specimens with aspect ratio of 1.75, 2.15 and 2.80 were respectively tested under reversed cyclic loading. The seismic behavior and displacement ductility were investigated. The effects of aspect ratio, axial load level and transverse steel ratio on the seismic behavior and displacement ductility were also analyzed. Test results were discussed and compared with T‐shaped steel–concrete composite shear wall. Results mainly showed that the T‐shaped shear wall specimens mainly presented bending–shear failure mode and were all destroyed because of the concrete crushing at the web (negative direction) and the longitudinal reinforcement of the web reaching the limited deformation (positive direction), showing that the web was the weakest part of T‐shape shear wall. The ductility of the specimens was decreased, and the ultimate load‐bearing capacity was increased by increasing the axial load. To specimens with smaller aspect ratio and higher axial load ratio, the special transverse steel ratio of the web should be increased to improve the crushing strain of the confined concrete of the web in order to satisfy the ductility of the walls. The seismic performance was obviously improved in the T‐shaped steel–concrete shear wall compared with that of the T‐shaped reinforced concrete shear wall. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.