Abstract:
Precast concrete wall buildings represent a significant portion of the New Zealand building stock, particularly for low-rise industrial and commercial buildings. These buildings typically are constructed with tall, slender panels that have minimum reinforcement content, and are connected to the foundation with horizontal starter bars which are cast into the foundation following panel erection. Despite the prolific nature of this construction type, there is limited evidence of the seismic performance of existing connections between the panels and other structural elements. In addition, previous earthquakes, including the Canterbury and Kaikoura events, have revealed that these connections are often the most vulnerable aspect of this construction type. In response to this lack of evidence, an experimental program investigating the seismic response of panel to foundation connections was performed. The testing program focused on dowel type connections typically used for low-rise industrial or commercial buildings. The testing program consisted of over thirty concrete panels with a single layer of reinforcement, which incorporated both details currently used in practice as well as alternative connection details that have been proposed to improve robustness in connection performance, while still maintaining construction feasibility. Specimens were subjected to out-of-plane, inplane, and bi-directional actions in order to assess the connection performance during different loading actions. A summary of this testing program is described herein, including the performance of both the existing and alternative details and recommendations for the design of these connections in new structures.
