Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-020-00530-6

REVIEW PAPER

Performance of Precast Shear Wall Connections Under Monotonic

and Cyclic Loading: A State‑of‑the‑Art Review
S. Hemamalini1 · R. Vidjeapriya1 · K. P. Jaya1

Received: 18 July 2019 / Accepted: 25 October 2020

© Shiraz University 2021

Abstract
Industrialized building system (IBS) is the term used to represent the concept of prefabrication, and it has been widely used
worldwide. In the last few decades, all the reinforced concrete structures in India were constructed adopting the cast-in-situ
construction. Many problems were encountered during the cast-in-situ construction, such as incompletion of work at speci-
fied time due to weather conditions, design methods, lack of workmanship, congestion due to traffic, and curing time. These
issues can be highly reduced by choosing precast construction as each structural element is manufactured in the factory and
only erection is done at the site. This process has a considerable reduction in construction time and ensures the quality of
the elements. Tall buildings are the need of the hour for affordable housing projects in India. In tall buildings, the strength
and stiffness are generally provided by the wall system, which comprises shear walls. The shear wall system should be effec-
tive with wind loads and earthquake loads, if not it will lead to catastrophic failure. Connections play an important role in
the lateral load resistance of the precast wall system because it is the weakest link in the precast wall system. The biggest
challenge is the behaviour and possible failure of the connections due to severe lateral loads against earthquake or wind
excitations. A brief review of various horizontal and vertical connections of shear walls and their behaviour under various
loading conditions are discussed.

Keywords Precast shear wall · Vertical connection · Horizontal connection · Monotonic and cyclic loading · Loading
protocol

1 Introduction wastage of materials, obtaining the precise dimension of the

Nowadays, precast construction is used in many countries
due to its rapid construction. Precast construction consists of
different structural elements like slab, beam, column, shear
wall, etc.; it should be designed to resist the seismic and lat-
eral loads. As the precast elements are manufactured in the
factory, the quality of the materials used will be as per stand-
ards compared with the cast-in-situ construction. Though the
initial cost of plant construction is very high, they exhibit
many advantages over cast in situ, such as reduction on the
* R. Vidjeapriya
vidjeapriya@annauniv.edu
S. Hemamalini
hema_viji1985@yahoo.co.in
K. P. Jaya
jayakp@annauniv.edu
1
College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai,
India
elements, and maintaining the homogeneity of the material.
Nowadays, the conventional method of construction is
being replaced with the industrialized building system (IBS).
This construction method is efficient, clean, safe, profes-
sionally managed, and handled by professionals and workers
with relevant skills, proper coordination and management,
precision, innovation, and quality which are the new fea-
tures associated with the construction industry (Rahman and
Omar 2006). It can be used for the reduction in the depend-
ency on foreign labour, cost reduction in construction and
reduction in construction time. The initial cost to construc-
tion of factory is very high (Nawi et al. 2015).
Developing countries like Malaysia are trying to imple-
ment IBS, especially in urban areas. The usage of IBS was
delayed in the construction industry due to the lack of IBS
knowledge among contractors, inability to utilize the IBS
components because of increases in the project cost, lack of
knowledge in the appropriate technique to be used in join-
ing the IBS components, the problem of defective joints of

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IBS components in the construction and also leaders and
client with deficiency in management, collaboration, and
implementation of IBS. In urban areas to increase the IBS,
it can offer various benefits compared to conventional sys-
tems. A client with good knowledge and qualified designers
will enhance the market share in the Malaysian construction
industry (Kasim et al. 2015; Nasir et al. 2016).
Connection design is the most important consideration for
the successful construction of precast concrete structures.
In precast building, primarily loads are transmitted to the
connection. Connection transfers the load from one struc-
tural element to another structural element. The connection
gives the complete load pathway for transferring the forces
(Vaghei et al. 2014).
Normally, precast construction methods are categorized
into two methods. In the emulative method of construction,
joints are cast on site by using wet concrete like monolithic
construction. Under seismic loading condition, flexural and
inclined cracks are formed similar to the monolithic con-
struction (wet joints and closely spaced continuous rein-
forcement). Structures with emulative construction, design,
and detailing of the connections make the performance in
terms of stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation of the
precast structure equivalent to cast-in-place monolithic rein-
forced concrete structure (Ericson and Warnes 1990). Emu-
lative connections are classified as ductile and strong. Struc-
tures designed with ductile connections undergo flexural
yielding and form ductile plastic hinges in the connections
across precast member-to-member. Structures designed with
strong connections experience flexural yielding within the
precast members (Kurama et al. 2018). In jointed construc-
tion method, joints are connected by dry joints without cast-
in concrete. Jointed systems are classified as connections of
limited ductility and ductile connections. Connections of
limited ductility of jointed systems are usually dry connec-
tions formed by welding or bolting reinforced bars or plates
or steel embedments and dry-packing and grouting. Ductile
connections of jointed systems are generally dry connec-
tions in which precast concrete elements were connected by
unbonded post-tensioned tendons (Park 2003). In connec-
tions using the post-tensioning (PT) system, the deformation
of connection is inelastic. Joints open and close during the
seismic loading conditions. This type of construction is very
economical and easy to erect (Schultz et al. 2004).
2 Shear Wall
Precast construction is an efficient and better alternative
system than other construction methods. The emulative
monolithic construction gives a good response in the
moderate seismic region. The provision of tie reinforcing
bars, reinforced shear keys and dowel bars provides the
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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
structural integrity and avoids progressive collapse. Based
on the structural system used in precast construction, it is
classified into three categories, namely wall system (only
shear walls are used to resist the horizontal and vertical
load), moment-resisting frame system, and dual system
(combination shear wall and frame system). The stabil-
ity of the structure is an important consideration to resist
against the lateral load, earthquake load, wind load, and
accidental load. In precast construction, structural continu-
ity is an important consideration. Structural elements are
connected by either emulative design or jointed construc-
tion, to produce the structural system which should be able
to resist the gravity load, lateral load, and seismic load.
Shear wall is mostly used in high-rise buildings to resist
the horizontal forces. The shear walls are connected using
either a vertical connection or horizontal connection. The
quality of the wall is maintained as it is cast in a controlled
environment. Due to high initial stiffness and lateral load
capacity, shear wall is used for lateral load resisting sys-
tems in the precast building (Gheorghe and Valeriu 1991;
Soudki et al. 1996).
Reinforced concrete (RC) walls can provide a high
degree of seismic protections in terms of both damage
control and prevention of collapse (Palay and Priestley
1993).
Shear walls provide lateral stiffness for buildings. A new
method (softened stress and strain relation) was proposed
to calculate the shear strength of low and normal strength
concrete wall. Before yielding, the energy dissipation curve
was small, and after yielding the energy dissipation curve
increased dramatically and shear wall failed. The energy
dissipation of shear wall under monotonic load was lesser
than that under cyclic load. It was because of propagation of
cracks that occurred only in one direction under monotonic
load, whereas it was in both directions under cyclic load (Mo
and Chan 1996).
Two identical cantilever wall specimens were designed
and cast to emulate the behaviour of a ductile cast-in-place
concrete wall and precast partially prestressed wall. Con-
ventional precast concrete wall performed well in terms of
ductility and energy absorption capability reaching 2.5%
drift before significant strength degradation. Precast partially
prestressed concrete wall reached 3% drift, and there was
no visible damage to the wall panel prior to failure (Holden
et al. 2003).
In high-rise buildings, the staircases and elevators are
constructed by U-shaped shear wall. It provides stiffness
and strength to RC buildings. Two U-shaped shear walls of
different thicknesses were tested with a bidirectional load-
ing system. It attained maximum moment capacity which is
smaller than the predicted value by the plastic hinge analy-
sis. Shear displacement at the end of the section was maxi-
mum (Beyer et al. 2008).
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

The crack initiation and propagation had a significant

effect on the stiffness of the structural concrete element.
The tensile cracking reduced the flexural and shear stiffness
that increased the deflection of the shear wall. The influence
of shear deformation on total deflection of the shear wall
was investigated. It was concluded that shear deformation
increased with an increased lateral load. The percentage of
shear deflections in the total deflection also increased with
decreasing aspect ratio of shear walls. These deflections con-
tributed to approximately 40% of the ultimate lateral load
when the height-to-width ratio was equal to 1. It is therefore
important to consider the variation of shear stiffness in the
cracked regions of members for improving results of the
analysis (Kara and Dundar 2009).
Figure 1 shows the definition of curvature and displace-
ment–ductility ratio. The ultimate load, ultimate drift, cur-
vature ductility, and displacement ductility of the shear wall
increased with axial load and reduced percentage of main
reinforcement (Cohn and Bartlett 1982; Azizinamini et al.
1999; Parulekar et al. 2011).
The different failure modes in the shear wall under lateral
loading are sliding shear failure, flexure failure, diagonal
tension failure, diagonal compression failure, and hinge slid-
ing failure. The failure modes are shown in Fig. 2 (Tang and
Su 2014).
Three L-shaped precast concrete shear walls and one
cast-in-situ wall were tested under cyclic loading to inves-
tigate the seismic behaviour of the specimens. The result
shows that the area of hysteretic loop of the precast shear Fig. 2  Failure mechanics of RC shear walls. a Sliding failure. b Flex-
ure failure. c Diagonal tension failure. d Diagonal compression fail-
ure. e Hinge sliding failure

wall was larger than the cast-in-place shear wall and had
better ductile performance and better energy dissipation
behaviour and also shear walls are good and reliable for
seismic performance (Li et al. 2017).
Performance of single rocking walls (SRWs) subjected
to multiple-level earthquake input motions using a shake
table was studied and compared with a reference wall
from a six-storey prototype building at 5/18th scale. Four
walls were designed with different amounts of PT steel
and initial PT force, providing base shear resistance in
the range of 137–328kN. The lowest amount of design
base shear was chosen to closely match the capacity of the
reference wall. All four walls performed well in terms of
maximum transient drift, maximum absolute acceleration,
and residual drift under design-level and higher-intensity
earthquake motions. Peak lateral drifts of the walls expe-
rienced limits greater than the permissible. SRWs can be
designed as earthquake force-resisting elements to produce
better performance under design-level and higher-intensity
earthquake motions (Nazari et al. 2017).
Fig. 1  Definition of curvature and displacement–ductility ratio

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Seismic performance of the T-shaped shear wall
was investigated by different axial load ratios and
height–thickness ratios. T-shaped shear wall had a better
ductility than traditional shear wall. The damages in the
shear wall increased with an increase in axial load ratio and
height–thickness ratio (Li et al. 2018).
Pseudo-static tests were conducted for one cast-in-place
shear wall specimen and three two-way hollow-core pre-
cast panels (TWHCPP) as shown in Fig. 3. Test results
showed that the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of
the TWHCPP were better than the cast-in-place shear wall
specimen. TWHCPP had lower shear strength compared to
cast-in-place shear wall. The load carrying capacity of the
TWHCPP was effective and sustained the vertical and lateral
loads at the limit state (Xiong et al. 2018).
Behaviour of one-storey two-bay cast-in-place lightly
reinforced concrete wall–slab–wall structure was designed
and cast in one stage to emulate the tunnel-built construction
technique and was examined under cyclic loading as shown
in Fig. 4. The hysteretic response of the building revealed
Fig. 3  Schematic of the proposed TWHCPP shear wall
Fig. 4  Full-scale cast-in-place reinforced concrete wall–slab–wall
structure
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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
that out-of-plane and in-plane rocking of walls was the
dominating response mechanism in the longitudinal/weak
and transverse/strong directions, respectively (Brunesi et al.
2018a).
3 Connections
Connections are classified according to function, broadly
as frame or panel connection. Connections are evaluated by
two different methods: first based on the fabrication, trans-
portation and erection, structural integrity, durability, ease
of repair, and architectural characteristics and second based
on the type of structural response (which can be achieved
by rigid, energy dissipation, and extensible connection).
The strut-and-tie model as shown in Fig. 5 is more suit-
able for connection to transfer the forces and is also used to
determine the approximate forces acting on the structures
(Stanton et al. 1991).
Dry connection (mechanical connectors and continu-
ity of bars) and wet connection (concrete filled in-between
panels) were used in the wall panels. Inelastic behaviour of
jointed connection (dry connection) increased the ductile
behaviour and energy dissipation capacity. Post-tensioning
bars are replaced by these dry connections. To increase the
shear resistance, shear keys were used to connect the pan-
els. The shear capacity depended upon the configuration of
shear keys and compressive load normal to the connection
(Soudki et al. 1996).
Precast concrete structures are primarily used for low-
seismicity area. Due to a lack of knowledge, they are not
used in moderate- and high-seismicity regions. Codal provi-
sions were developed only for cast-in-place concrete; it is not
recommended for precast concrete. The selection of connec-
tion in load-bearing shear wall depends upon the understand-
ing of the behaviour of the connections and development of
guidelines, recommendations for the design, and use of these
Fig. 5  Strut-and-tie model flow
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

connections. It also depends on the energy dissipation and joint had good mechanical characteristics compared to the
ductile behaviour of the connection. RC beam section without joints (Ryu et al. 2007).
Loop bars were used to connect the interior and exterior
precast wall panels as shown in Fig. 7. One transverse bar
4 Vertical Connection was inserted in between the loop bars. Few line cracks were
formed before failure; the connection showed ductile behav-
4.1 Loop Bars iour under shear loading. The ductility value was within the
acceptable limit (Rossley et al. 2014a).
Loop bars are generally used as the connecting element. Figure 8 shows experimental tests were conducted on a
The vertical connection transfers the shear load through the wall-to-wall vertical connection, loop bars were projected
connection. from the wall, and one transverse bar was inserted in between
The loop connection behaviour under loading was stud- the loop to connect two wall panels. The shear capacity of
ied. Tensile forces were transferred from one element to the connection was satisfactory. In economical point of view,
another element by overlapping loop and inducing radial diameter of the loop bars was reduced to 6 mm. To increase
stresses between the loops. Figure 6 shows forces transferred the ductility of the loop bar, the ratio of the transverse bar
in between the loops, and to counteract the radial stress,
transverse reinforcement rod was inserted inside the loop.
Transverse reinforcement was designed by strut-and-tie
model (Fib 43. 2008).
Loop bars were used to connect two precast members.
The tensile strength of the loop bar depended on the yield-
ing of the U-bar and failure in the joint concrete when it
was subjected to tension. Ultimate load-carrying capac-
ity of the specimen was influenced by important design
parameters like increasing the overlap length of the U-bar,
decreasing the space between adjacent U-bars, and increas-
ing the amount of transverse reinforcement. Displacement
of the specimen increased with increased overlapping length
(Ong et al. 2006; Joergensen and Hoang. 2013; Araujo et al.
2014).
Stiffness and strength of the loop connection were inves-
tigated under static and fatigue loading conditions. The test
result was compared with the ordinary beam without joint.
It was observed that the overlapping section within the loop
Fig. 7  Interior wall to exterior wall connection

Fig. 6  Transfer of forces at the

loop connection

13

Fig. 8  Wall panels vertical connection
to overlapping length of loop bar was increased. The loop
connection was not able to produce sufficient strength for
out-of-plane loadings (Rossley et al. 2014b).
3D finite element model of the precast wall-to-wall con-
nection using loop bars and the transverse bar was developed
by using ABAQUS as shown in Fig. 9. An incremental in-
plane lateral load was applied to the wall panel. Crack propa-
gation occurred at the bottom of the wall panel. Few cracks
were formed between the wall and connection. Based on the
results, it was concluded that the connection had low effi-
ciency in terms of capacity against lateral loading (Vaghei
et al. 2014).
Figure 10 shows another study, where the width of the
joint which was determined by the lap length of the headed
bars was kept as small as possible to facilitate the acceler-
ated construction (Li and Jiang 2016).
Fig. 9  Wall-to-wall vertical connection
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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 10  Details of joint
The tensile capacity of loop connections, with precast
fibre-reinforced (PFR) dowels using poly-propylene and
steel fibre, was compared with connection grouted with
regular mortar. Connection with PFR dowels exhibited duc-
tile behaviour when compared to connection grouted with
regular mortar. The ultimate load level of PFR dowels was
lower than that completely grouted with mortar (Sorensen
et al. 2016).
4.2 Shear Keys
Connection of wall panels is very important for precast
structures, especially in seismic region. The relative move-
ment of the connection between wall panels is unprevent-
able. Connectors should be provided with high deformation
capacity and energy dissipation to resist the lateral load sys-
tem. The connection should be designed for seismic perfor-
mance with cost-effectiveness for the precast industry and
suitable for high and moderate seismicity. Two wall panels
were connected by keyed joints. Hysteretic behaviour, load-
carrying capacity, cracking, and collapse mechanism of the
vertical joints were observed under cyclic alternate load-
ing. Cracks were formed at the interface of the panel joints.
Resistance capacity of the keyed joints was dependent upon
the resistance of concrete to tension than upon its resistance
to compression. The joints performed well under alternate
cyclic loading. Vertical joints resisted the maximum shear
force without cracking (Gheorghe and Valeriu 1991).
Shear keys provide the most effective method to con-
nect two separate precast components to increase the shear
resistivity of the joint surfaces. Shape of shear keys gave
significant shear resistance capacity. Shear capacity of the
different shapes of shear keys (triangular, composite rectan-
gular, semicircle, and trapezoidal as shown in Fig. 11) was
tested. Semicircle shear keys exhibited good shear capacity
compared to the other connection. Failure in the connec-
tion was due to sliding, shear, and diagonal tension crack
(Ibrahim et al. 2014).
In the current practice, vertical lowering of the wall pan-
els experiences some difficulties at the construction site. The
developed design was introduced in between two wall panels
(developed design specimen), and the load-carrying capacity
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 11  Shear key shape detail and dimension. a Triangular, b trap-
ezoidal 60°, c composite rectangular, d trapezoidal 45°, e semicircle,
f trapezoidal 30°
of the developed design specimen was compared with clas-
sical design specimen. Developed design specimen was pro-
vided with twice the reinforcement introduced with different
shear key length and depth as shown in Fig. 12. Ultimate
load value of the joint increased for developed design speci-
men due to an increase in the area of reinforcement per loop
connection. Ductile behaviour of the joint was governed by
Fig. 12  General geometry of
push-off specimens; thickness is
equal to 200 mm
the reinforcement configuration, properties of reinforcement,
properties of joint mortar and precast concrete, geometry of
the shear key, and frictional properties of the joint. Overall
performance in terms of ductility of the joint was superior in
the developed design compared to classical design (Sorensen
et al. 2015).
A new design was introduced with different shear key
depth. Figure 13 shows the general geometry of specimens.
The influence of key depth on the failure mode and ductility
of the connection was compared with two different models
(upper- and lower-bound model). The larger key indentations
failed by concrete key cut-off, and the smaller key inden-
tations suffered local crushing failure at the key corners.
Upper-bound model provided safe results, but it was more
complicated to apply (Sorensen et al. 2018).
Experiments were conducted to assess the behaviour of
grouted vertical joints between precast wall panels for thir-
teen specimens subjected to in-plane shear loading. Shear
capacity of the U-bar spaced at 125 mm shows increased
shear capacity compared to the 250-mm spacing because
of generation of strut-and-tie action and increased dowel
action. Specimens with castellated joints provided increased
capacity beyond cracking due to the formation of diagonal
struts. Figure 14 shows a castellated joint with U-bars. Ana-
lytical expression was developed for shear load from the
results. Three finite element models were analysed based on
nonlinear pushover analysis, and the models with shear links
provide rational estimates of the lateral strength and stiffness
in a nonlinear analysis (Biswal et al. 2018).
4.3 Channel Connection
U-shaped channel connection was introduced between two
walls to improve the rotational loading capacity of the con-
nection, and it was compared with the loop connection.
By using ABAQUS software, three-DOF (major or minor
bending moment and torsional moment) was applied to the
member and the capacity of the connection was calculated.
Pushover analysis gave maximum flexural strength of the
proposed connection. The proposed connection showed bet-
ter performance in dissipating the forces compared to loop
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 Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

connection. Displacement of right panel in the proposed

Fig. 13  General geometry of specimens
connection was less than loop connection. Cracks were
formed near the connection, and it was distributed evenly in
the proposed connection (Taheri et al. 2016).
The capacity behaviour of the loop bar connection was
compared with the new proposed connection (U-shaped
steel channel section) as shown in Fig. 15. Strength for
axial force, in-plane and out-of-plane loads (three transla-
tional degrees of freedom) was compared for both connec-
tions. 3D space finite element model was created by using
ABAQUS software. Depending upon each DOF, the position
of loads and boundary conditions was defined. Three-DOF
was applied to the wall-to-wall connection. The strength and
displacement improved in the U-shaped steel channel sec-
tion. The capacity of the proposed connection was fifteen
times greater than the loop connection. In channel connec-
tion, the cracks propagated and were not concentrated at
certain points only. Based on the damage results, the loop
and the proposed connections had brittle and ductile failure
modes, respectively (Vaghei et al. 2016).
The U-shaped channel connection was subjected to
dynamic loading. In this case, new U-shaped rubber was
introduced in between the channel section to dissipate
the vibration effect. Figure 16 shows dimensions of the
concrete wall panel in the proposed connection. Dimen-
sion details of concrete reinforcing welded mesh (BRC)
and U-shaped steel channel and rubber details are shown
in Fig. 17. The channel connection had increased energy
dissipation and increased flexibility, and the deformation
capacity was ten times greater than the loop connection
(Vaghei et al. 2017). The same connection was subjected
to axial, shear, and flexural loads. The results showed that
precast wall-to-wall equipped with U-shaped steel chan-
nel was capable of exceeding the capacity of precast walls

Fig. 14  Castellated joint with

U-bars

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 15  a New proposed U-shaped steel channel connection. b Rein-
forcement in the proposed connection
subjected to lateral load and in turn increased flexibility.
Also, the average relative rotation deformation of the new
connection was approximately 36 per cent greater than
the loop connection, resulting in amplified flexibility in
U-shaped steel channel connection (Vaghei et al. 2019).
Fig. 16  Dimensions of the con-
crete wall panel in the proposed
connection
Fig. 17  a Dimension and details
of BRC. b Details of U-shaped
steel channel and rubber details
4.4 Mechanical Connectors
PRESSS Program investigated the performance of precast
concrete shear wall joints under the moderate seismic region.
The objective of the Program was to improve overall system
toughness and energy dissipation of the joint by transferring
the forces through the joints. The selection of connection
depended upon the cost-effectiveness, ease of erection, and
behaviour. The shear wall was considered as the vertical
cantilever beam to calculate the base shear force by using an
elastic analysis procedure. Totally, twelve connections were
developed to connect the panels: six horizontal connections
and six vertical connections. Three welded connections and
three bolted connections were used as vertical connection
(notched shear plate, slotted flexure plate, inclined flat bar,
pinned tension strut, brass friction device, and U-shaped
flexure plate). It was concluded that notched shear plate and
slotted flexure plate were well suited for strong coupling
shear wall panels because their large initial elastic stiffness,
low deformation, and energy dissipation capacity limit the
use of these connections to low–moderate seismic region
(Schulz et el. 1984).
Friction-type mechanical connectors as shown in Fig. 18
were provided along vertical joints in between the large
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Fig. 18  Friction-type mechanical connectors
panel, and seismic response was investigated. It showed an
effective response, and improved structural integrity was
achieved through the connectors (Pekau and Hum 1991).
A precast divided shear wall that included diagonal steel
bars and connected to steel beam by high-tensile bolts. Their
characteristic behaviours were confirmed by conducting
experiment on four types of specimens based on their con-
struction as monolithic type—basic type (N1), diagonal steel
bar (N2), middle beam (N3), and slit type (N4). The strength
of N1 was the same as that of N3, which indicates that the
difference of middle beam has no influence to the maximum
strength. The shear transfer mechanism of the specimen was
estimated for monolithic type and slit type. The calculated
strength of the monolithic type was 0.85–0.89 times greater
than the experimental values, whereas that for the slit type
(assuming width of strut to be 0.6lw) was approximately
equal to the experimental values (Hosokawa et al. 2000).
Loose plate connection as shown in Fig. 19 was provided
as a vertical connection in-between wall panel. Connec-
tion behaviour was investigated by applying the simulated
seismic load. The loose plate connection commonly used in
precast construction can resist relatively high shear forces.
Fig. 19  Loose plate connection
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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 20  H-shaped precast reinforced shear walls
It exhibited low ductility. It was found to be unsuitable for
the high seismic region (Hofheins et al. 2002).
Seismic performance of a 1/2-scaled three-story model of
novel low-rise precast wall panel structure with bolt connec-
tions was investigated for the structural dynamic responses,
damage pattern, and seismic fragility. The damage pattern of
the structure was classified as bolt loosening, adjoining wall
panels sliding and dislocating, and structural components
cracking under the seismic response. Four damage limit
states were explained based on performance-based design,
and the probability of structure collapse was shown to be
nearly zero under the seismic level of maximum considered
earthquake. The structure has high loading capacity and a
high collapse margin ratio (Guo et al. 2019).
Three H-shaped precast reinforced shear walls with ver-
tical connections were tested under monotonic and lateral
load as shown in Fig. 20. Ultimate lateral load-carrying
capacity of the H-shape walls assembled vertically using
bolted steel connections was 50% greater than that of walls
subjected to monotonic load, and the displacement ductil-
ity factor also increased. The thickness of connecting steel
frames influenced both stiffness and load-carrying capacity
of the H-shaped walls. Encasing steel plates provided con-
finement to the wall and increase the ductility of the wall
(Sun et al. 2019).
5 Horizontal Connections
5.1 General Connections
The horizontal connection is used to transfer both gravity
and lateral loads in the structure. It plays a critical role in
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
structural stability and integrity. Several researchers have
studied the behaviour of horizontal connections between
wall panels (Rizkalla et al. 1989; Huey et al.1990; Soudki
et al. 1995, 1996; Perez et al. 2013; Chaimahawan et al.
2018; Jiang et al. 2018; Pramodh et al. 2018).
Seven connections were used for experimental inves-
tigation. Two different shear keys (larger key and smaller
key) and plain surface are used to connect the panel. Two
different-level compressive stresses (4 MPa and 2 MPa) were
applied normal to the connection. The compressive stress
was applied by using the prestressing system. The monotonic
load was applied to the specimen. In shear keys, diagonal
cracks were formed. Shear capacity of multiple shear key
connections under the stress level of 4 MPa was 60% greater
than the stress under 2 MPa. Shear capacity of the shear
keys was directly proportional to the level of stress applied
normal to the connection. Multiple shear keys in between the
panel were compared to the plain surface. Shear capacity of
multiple shear keys was 60% greater than that of the plain
surface (Rizkalla et al. 1989).
Shear transfer mechanism for precast wall subjected to
lateral load was studied, and the shear strength was calcu-
lated. Due to lateral load on the precast concrete wall, shear
transfer mechanisms were discussed and the shear strength
was calculated for horizontal joints. Shear strength and
failure mode of joint were calculated by concentrically and
eccentrically applied compression load. Non-shrinking grout
was used for connecting two panels. Two lengths of grout
are applied in between panels. The first one is a concentri-
cally loaded panel, and the second one is an eccentrically
loaded panel over the full length of the joint. Three different
failures happened in the specimen. In the first one, sliding
failure—cracks occur in between joint and panel, sudden
loss of shear stiffness occurred. The second one was grout
failure—cracks formed within joints, in which shear stiffness
gradually decreased. The third one was panel failure—cracks
Fig. 21  Dry connection
occur in the panel due to improper reinforcement. Results
obtained from concentrically compressed specimen were
also applicable for eccentrically compressed specimen
(Huey et al. 1990).
Behaviour of six full-scale specimens with five differ-
ent configurations of the precast concrete wall panel with
mild steel connection was investigated under cyclic loading
and one specimen tested under monotonic loading. The fol-
lowing five different configurations were used in horizontal
connection: (1) reinforcing bars welded to steel angle; (2)
reinforcing bars spliced by a sleeve; (3) reinforcing bars
spliced by a sleeve and partially unbonded; (4) reinforc-
ing bars spliced by a sleeve and multiple shear keys; and
(5) reinforcing bars bolted to a tube. The cyclic behaviour
of the specimen was identified by the following three limit
states: (a) linear elastic; (b) nonlinear ductile stage; and (c)
failure stage. All the connections exhibited good energy dis-
sipation, and the ductility ranged from 4 to 6. The mode of
failure of all connections was due to significant crushing and
spalling of the dry pack. The presence of shear keys across
the jointed interface limited the slip mechanism (Soudki
et al. 1995).
Five different connection behaviours under cyclic shear
deformations combined with simulated gravity loads normal
to the connection were studied. Figures 21 and 22 show the
details of (a) dry pack plain surface, (b) multiple shear keys,
(c) reinforcing bars welded to steel angle, (d) post-tensioned
strand, and (e) post-tensioned bar that were tested. The
behaviour of connection was described by three different
stages under cyclic and static loading: first, perfectly elastic;
second, inelastic behaviour; and third, initiated by sudden
and extensive crushing and spalling. The shear resistance of
connections with post-tensioning was mainly provided by
friction at the dry pack grout-to-panel interface. Overall fric-
tional resistance increased, due to increased vertical stress
on the connection by using prestressing (Soudki et al. 1996).
13

Fig. 22  Reinforcing and prestressing bar connection
During cyclic loading conditions, the thickness of dry
pack reduced and spalling and crushing occurred compared
to monotonic loading. Shear resistance of the connection
increased due to the dowel action of the reinforcing bars.
The ultimate shear resistance of the shear key connec-
tion was 40% higher than the dry pack connection. Failure
occurred for all connection configurations after slip of mag-
nitude greater than 5 mm. Shear resistance of the connection
increased by interface friction and resistance of continuity
of the bars. The shear resistance of the post-tensioned bars
or strands increased by frictional resistance of the continuity
bar (Soudki et al. 1996).
Lateral behaviour of precast concrete wall was examined
under reverse cyclic load. Upper and lower precast wall
panels were connected by welded connection with dowel
bar and steel plate embedded into the precast wall. Weld-
ing was done between dowel bar embedded in the lower
precast concrete wall and steel plate embedded in the upper
precast concrete wall. The precast wall resisted maximum
load compared to cast-in-situ reinforced concrete wall, and
cracks of the specimen were concentrated around concrete
cover near the steel plate connection. Behaviour of walls
was analysed by using FEM; it simulated the experimental
results (Chaimahawan et al. 2018).
Two half-scale specimens such as the cast-in-place rein-
forced concrete (RC) shear wall and precast reinforced
concrete (PC) shear wall were subjected to quasi-static
test. Q235 steel plates were used to connect the upper and
lower walls using 14 numbers of 20-mm-diameter bolts.
The mechanical behaviour of this connection was almost
equivalent to the RC shear wall. The observations made
in the numerical analysis are as follows: (a) high-strength
bolts with a high pre-tightening force should be adopted
to reduce the value of slip; (b) the number of bolts can be
reduced based on earthquake-resistant detailed requirement
and transmitted force needed; and (c) the axial compression
ratio can be set to 0.5 in this form of the PC shear wall (Jiang
et al. 2018).
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 23  Experimental set-up
Two types of emulative precast concrete walls with
dry horizontal connection (PW-D) and semi-dry horizon-
tal connection (PW-SD) and monolithic wall specimens
were tested by in-plane quasi-static cyclic loading with
full scale. The average value of measured peak strength
of dry and semi-dry horizontal connection was higher
than that of the monolithic wall. In this horizontal con-
nection, the initial stiffness of the monolithic wall speci-
men was higher than that of the precast specimens by the
range of 4.8% and 6.3% for specimens PW-D and PW-SD,
respectively. All specimens exhibited similar energy dis-
sipation performance. Based on the analytical results, it
was concluded that both precast specimens possessed good
seismic performance with high bearing capacity and large
deformation capacity. Design strength of the specimen
was calculated by three different failure modes: flexural
dominated failure, shear dominated failure, and shear fric-
tion dominated failure. The specimen was controlled by
flexural shear failure mechanism in both experimental and
analytical observations (Zhangfeng and Zhengxing 2018).
Experimental behaviour of a full-scale two-storey
lightly reinforced precast concrete wall–slab–wall struc-
ture connected using three-way wet joints featuring poorly
designed and detailed steel connector was studied under
pseudo-static cyclic loading as shown in Fig. 23. The
response of the structure was dominated by issues of fric-
tion/sliding and connection behaviour and steel connectors
failed by permanent bending mechanism at relatively low
storey drift (Brunesi et al. 2018b).
The seismic performance of five specimens was evalu-
ated experimentally under cyclic load. Three-way panel-
to-panel connection for precast wall–slab–wall structures
was connected by steel connectors with grouting. It was
observed that the steel connectors lodged in the sockets
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
of the three-way panel joints were permanently bent and
failed in flexural mode (Brunesi et al. 2019).
Quasi-static tests and simulations were carried out on a
new type of cast-in-situ sandwich wall and two new types of
precast sandwich walls. The seismic performance of the pre-
cast sandwich wall with the steel connection with aluminium
friction plate (CAF) at a vertical seam and precast sandwich
wall with special round steels (SRS) connecting horizontal
seam was studied. Using CAFs and SRS to connect vertical
and horizontal seams can effectively reduce structural stiff-
ness and loading capacity, improve deformation capacity,
reduce structural damage, and maintain energy dissipation
(Xu and Li 2019).
5.2 Post‑tensioning System
An overview of the connections in the precast shear wall
was studied. The walls carried both gravity and lateral
loads in the structures and an intermediate frame was not
required. The wall panels are typically one-story height and
are connected both horizontally and vertically to adjacent
panels at each story. The vertical connection was designed
to transfer the shear load through the connection. Precast
members were connected by mechanical connector, rein-
forcement, and prestressed vertical reinforcement. The shear
strength of these members depended upon the ductility of
the connector. Horizontal connections grouted splice sleeve
and post-tensioned tendon was used to find the behaviour
of wall panels. Grouted splice sleeve connection exhibited
stable and moderately wide force–displacement hysteresis
loops. Stiffness gradually reduced due to crack formation
in joint and panel; once peak load reached flexural strength
reduced. Inclined cracks were formed at the panel and crush-
ing of grout occurred at the horizontal joints. If gravity stress
was very low, a larger linear strain capacity post-tensioned
tendon was used to connect the panels. It exhibited little
energy dissipation capacity; peak strength was stable even
after the tendons lost prestress. It behaved in an elastic man-
ner. A failure occurred when the load reached 70–80% of
Fig. 24  Hysteretic response of
various structural systems
the nominal strength of threaded bars (Magana and Schultz
1996).
Figure 24 shows the response of (a) conventional rein-
forced concrete system; (b) a fully prestressed precast con-
crete system; and (c) a partially prestressed (hybrid) concrete
system. For the last two prestressed wall systems, the ten-
dons, if left unbonded over a certain length, remained elastic
during rocking. In this way, the elastic restoring force will
essentially prevent residual lateral displacement of the wall.
Since the concrete was not bonded to the tendons, consid-
erably less cracking was induced than in monolithic wall.
The damage avoidance design (DAD) philosophy introduced
steel plates at the ends of the prestressed concrete wall and
embedded a mating steel plate in the foundation, to avoid
damage (Mander and Cheng 1997).
PRESSS Research Program investigated the design of
rectangular openings in unbonded post-tensioned concrete
walls under combined vertical loads and post-tensioning,
and lateral loads. Cracks were formed at the bottom of
the wall panel and between wall and foundation because
a gap formed along the horizontal joints and also cracks
were formed in the wall panels due to large tensile stresses
induced at the rectangular opening region. To reduce these
cracks, critical panel regions needed to be bonded with mild
steel reinforcement to prevent premature failure. A finite ele-
ment model was developed to design the panel reinforcement
to control the cracks in the critical region and compare with
the proposed design approach. Crack development of the
well-designed walls was smaller than monolithic cast-in-
place reinforced concrete walls (Allen and Kurama 2002).
Flexural strength of the unbonded post-tensioned wall
(UPT) was an important parameter to resist the lateral load
acting on the structure. Flexural strength at the base of the
wall was mainly governed by the yielding strength of the PT
steel. The lateral load behaviour of UPT walls was charac-
terized by limit states shown in Fig. 25: (1) decompression
at the wall base (DEC), (2) an effective linear limit (ELL),
which is the effective limit of the linear–elastic response of
the wall, (3) concrete cover spalling at the wall base (SPL),
13

Fig. 25  Lateral load response of unbonded post-tensioned walls
Fig. 26  Typical strain profiles on outer edge of RC and PT wall
(4) yielding of the PT steel (LLP), and (5) crushing of con-
fined concrete at the wall base (CCC). Crushing of confined
concrete at the base of the wall was the main parameter for
loss of lateral load and gravity load resistance (Perez et al.
2007).
Eight precast wall panels were used to define concrete
compressive strain using experimental and analytical meth-
ods with unbonded post-tensioning. Even without special
confinement at the base of the wall, behaviour of the wall
Fig. 27  UPT precast concrete
walls
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
was satisfactory and the compression strain limit exceeded
0.003. Figure 26 shows typical strain profiles on outer edge
of the RC and PT wall. Results indicate that a maximum
strain limit of 0.003 may be too conservative for unbonded
PT walls. Experimental results were compared with 3D
analytical model in the critical toe region, and it was con-
cluded that a strain of 0.005 is recommended for defining
the nominal flexural strength of PT concrete walls (Henry
et al. 2012).
Five large-scale UPT precast concrete walls with hori-
zontal joints were experimentally investigated under com-
bined gravity and lateral loading as shown in Fig. 27. Some
parameters such as the total area of post-tensioning steel and
the level of prestressing control the response of UPT precast
wall and also showed significant damage due to self-centring
characteristics (Perez et al. 2013).
Seismic performance of five-, seven-, and ten-storey
unbonded post-tensioned concrete jointed wall system
designed by using direct displacement-based design was
subjected to long- and short-duration earthquake input
motions and validated analytically. Each wall system con-
sisted of two precast walls, and it was connected horizontally
by U-shaped stainless-steel flexural plates (UFP). Maximum
transient inter-storey drifts were closer to the acceptable lim-
its for low-rise buildings. The taller building had a stronger
tendency to approach and exceed unity of normalized floor
acceleration compared with the low-rise buildings (Rahman
and Sritharan 2015).
Cyclic lateral load behaviour of four different unbonded
post-tensioned precast concrete wall systems, including two
single rocking walls (SRW) and two precast wall with end
columns (PreWEC), was connected with varying amounts
of supplemental damping (O-connectors) while keeping
initial post-tensioning force. All four-specimens exhibited
good performance with uplift and rocking at the wall base
with considerable damage. SRW walls had low equivalent
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
viscous damping compared to PreWEC. PreWEC showed
increased strength and hysteresis due to the addition of the
O-connectors (Twigden et al. 2017).
5.3 Post‑tensioning with Supplementary Energy
Dissipation
Seismic behaviour of twelve prototype precast walls with
different amounts of post-tensioning and bonded mild steel
reinforcement, including walls that emulate the behaviour
of monolithic cast-in-place reinforced concrete walls, was
investigated. Nonlinear static reversed cyclic lateral load
analyses showed increased inelastic energy dissipation
of unbonded post-tensioned precast walls to considerable
levels by providing 0.5–0.75 times the amount of mild
steel used in the corresponding emulative walls. The use
of mild steel reinforcement in the high-seismicity region
has two important effects on the dynamic response of the
walls under earthquake: (1) the maximum displacement of
wall decreases; (2) the number of large displacement peaks
decreases because the response of wall decays faster. The
effectiveness of mild steel reinforcement in reducing lateral
displacement of walls was greater for short-period structures
(Kurama 2002).
Shear wall panels connected by post-tensioning system
exhibited less energy dissipation capacity. Hence, mild
steel bars were used as supplementary energy dissipators.
The mild steel bars were designed to yield and compress,
and energy was dissipated through the wall due to rocking
behaviour. When subjected to reverse cyclic lateral load-
ing, a gap was formed at the base of the wall due to the
opening and closing behaviour of the wall. Post-tension-
ing steel offered a restoring force to close the gap during
unloading condition and reduced the residual displacement
of the structure, and also the unbonded tendons transferred
the tensile forces to the concrete and delayed the yielding
Fig. 28  a Hybrid system
schematic. b Emulative system
schematic
of the PT strands and reduced the formation of cracks in
the wall panels (Smith et al. 2013). During an earthquake,
the behaviour of the hybrid precast concrete shear wall
was different from conventional monolithic cast-in-place
reinforced concrete shear wall due to its self-centring
behaviour. Post-tensioning system was considered as non-
emulative structures (Smith and Kurama 2014).
A combination of mild steel and high-strength
unbonded post-tensioning hybrid precast wall system was
investigated for the seismic performance under reversed
cyclic lateral loading. The failure occurred prematurely
due to lower unconfined concrete strength and poor place-
ment of the confinement hoops at the wall toes (Smith
et al. 2011).
Behaviour of two hybrid shear wall systems and emula-
tive specimen was tested under combined lateral and gravity
loading as shown in Fig. 28. The emulative wall used mild
steel reinforcement. The hybrid wall was connected to the
foundation by post-tensioning system in which one of the
hybrid wall systems was connected into the foundation by
using grouted continuous bars and another one was con-
nected by type II mechanical splices. It was observed that
hybrid walls behaved like a rigid body and formed limited
concrete cracking compared to the emulative specimen.
Post-tensioned hybrid wall with continuous bars showed
superior restoration, energy dissipation, and ductile behav-
iour during larger lateral displacements. The emulative wall
exhibited large residual uplift at the base joint, resulting in
excessive horizontal slip and strength degradation (Smith
et al. 2013).
Six 0.4-scale multi-panel wall specimens (four solid and
two perforated walls) were used for validating the proposed
design approach and subjected to service-level gravity
loads combined with reversed cyclic lateral loading. Fig-
ure 29 shows cross section details of the hybrid wall. Per-
formance of hybrid precast shear wall in the high seismic
13

Fig. 29  Cross section details of hybrid wall
region improved and satisfied all the requirements of special
reinforced concrete shear wall (Smith and Kurama 2014).
Behaviour of two 0.4-scale multi-panel hybrid precast
concrete shear walls with large rectangular perforations with
different size openings was tested under combined lateral
and gravity loading. Lateral resistance across the horizontal
joints was achieved by the ratio of the PT and energy dis-
sipation (ED) steel. Damage occurred at the base of the wall
and minor cracking formed at the corner of the perforations
due to yielding of ED bar (Smith et al. 2015).
Seven full-scale specimens (one cast-in-place monolithic
wall and six hybrid precast concrete shear wall emulating
monolithic construction (HPWEM)) were investigated under
reverse cyclic lateral loading. HPWEM specimen was con-
nected by grouted vertical connecting reinforcements and
unbonded post-tensioned high-strength strands across
the horizontal joint for the lateral resistance. An increase
in the number of strands in specimen HPWEM improved
Fig. 30  The details of the
full-scale test set-up: a panel; b
panel 2
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
the strength of the specimen, and an increase in the post-
tensioned force of the unbonded tendons provided higher
initial stiffness and self-centring capacity of the HPWEM
specimen. Grouted vertical connecting reinforcements with
a bond length of 350 mm with high-strength grout developed
sufficient tensile strength (Zhangfeng and Zhengxing 2016).
Unbonded post-tensioned precast concrete walls are used
in the seismic region due to their self-centring capability and
ability to undergo larger deformation with little damage. But
it has some disadvantage in the seismic region to increase
the lateral displacements as a result of smaller inelastic
energy dissipation. To reduce this greater displacement,
friction damper was used along the vertical joints. The sim-
plified design approach was introduced for the dampers to
reduce the maximum roof displacement of the walls below
an allowable displacement to prevent significant damage in
the walls under maximum credible ground motions. Nonlin-
ear dynamic time history analysis showed that the simpli-
fied design approach was an effective method to reduce the
maximum displacement (Kurama 2001).
5.4 Grouted Connection
The response of two full-scale wall specimens as shown
in Fig. 30a, b is reinforced with a single layer of vertical
reinforcement and a double layer of vertical reinforcement.
Grouted sleeve connections used to connect precast wall
panel to the foundation were examined under cyclic load.
Based on the observations, both wall specimens were domi-
nated by rocking failure. The thread slips occurred at the top
of the connectors and reinforcement pull-out from grout that
was observed in the connection region, resulted in a reduc-
tion in stiffness in the wall panel (Seifi et al. 2017).
Shear resisting capacity of the three types of wall-to-
wall horizontal connection systems (WW710, WW450,
and WW300) were investigated by varying embedded length
(710 mm, 450 mm, and 300 mm) of grouted dowel bars
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

in the upper panel under lateral loading. It was concluded

that WW710 showed higher ultimate shear capacity and
energy dissipation capacity. WW450 provided shear capac-
ity greater than theoretical shear capacity, and it has more
ductile behaviour under monotonic loading (Pramodh et al.
2018).
Grouted dowel connection is simple and cost-effective
and widely used in wall construction. Typical grouted dowel
connection is shown in Fig. 31. Experimental results showed
that the effect of ducts presence in the connection consider-
ably improved the confinement effect, and relatively larger
bond stress was included than that accounted for in cur-
rent design. Bar size, steel strength, and grout compressive
strength were considered for predicting the development
length (Smith et al. 2019).
Seismic behaviour of five specimens (four precast shear
wall specimens and one cast-in-place shear wall specimen) Fig. 32  Grouted metal duct connection
was investigated by pseudo-static test method. Precast wall
specimens were connected to the foundation with different
vertical rebar lap splice positions and different rebar lap connections was evaluated subjected to reversed cyclic in-
lengths at the horizontal joint. Seismic behaviour of pre- plane test as shown in Fig. 32. The parameters studied in
cast shear wall specimens in terms of load–displacement the experimental work were applied axial load level, wall
characteristics, bearing capacity, ductility, strength, stiffness, panel geometry, and varied detailing of the splice confine-
energy dissipation capacity, steel strain, and crack distribu- ment between the wall panel and connection reinforcement.
tion was equivalent to cast-in-place shear walls. The precast The use of transverse reinforcement in the form of stirrups
shear walls with vertical rebar by means of the rebar lap- to confine the connection reinforcement and a larger quan-
ping in grout-filled constrained hole and with a lap length of tity of vertical reinforcement around metal ducts increased
1.0Lae can reach the bearing capacity, seismic energy dissi- strength and ductility of the wall panel toe, limiting the con-
pation capacity, and ductility equivalent to the cast-in-place crete spalling at the toe, and prevented the brittle failure of
structure. (Gu et al. 2019). the metal duct connection by reinforcement pull-out (Seifi
Seismic performance of seven full-scale precast concrete et al. 2019).
wall panels having wall-to-foundation grouted metal duct

6 Shear Capacity of Connections

Shear walls were analysed in flexure using nonlinear beam

theory. It was concluded that the ductility in shear wall
depended on arrangement of reinforcement, geometry of
section, axial load, and confinement of concrete. Hence,
shear walls in high-rise buildings should be proportioned
and reinforced to have sufficient ductility to resist major
earthquake (Salse and Fintel 1974).
Shear walls are classified into two groups: high-rise shear
wall (flexural behaviour) and low-rise shear wall (shear fail-
ure) building. Boundary elements were used to resist the
applied bending moment and shear force, which reduced
bending failure and sliding shear failure (Hsu and Mo 1985).
The softened truss model theory was developed for con-
crete structures from equilibrium and compatibility condi-
tions and is also applicable for structures subjected to shear,
such as low-rise shear walls, framed wall panels, and deep
beams (Hsu 1989).
Fig. 31  Typical grouted dowel connection

13

The shear strength of the walls increased by the amount
of vertical reinforcement in the web and boundary ele-
ments. The minimum web reinforcement ratio for low rise
shear wall was considered as 6√fc’ or (√fc’/2). Maximum
average shear stress of wall defined as the maximum lat-
eral load V
­ max was divided by the effective area of the
concrete section (Wood 1990).
Three strut-and-tie load paths were proposed to model
the force transfer within the squat wall, and they were
the diagonal (concrete strut), horizontal (horizontal web
reinforcement), and vertical mechanisms (vertical web
reinforcement).
Ultimate shear strength of squat wall (­ Vcal) was given
by
Vcal = Vd + Vw
where ­Vd = shear strength provided by diagonal compression
strut; ­Vw = shear strength provided by web reinforcement.
Shear transfer mechanism of the shear wall was related
to deep beam. It was more akin to the deep beam that may
be top-loaded or bottom-loaded. The top-loaded shear wall
transferred the load based on the strut-and-tie model. But
in bottom-loaded shear wall it was not applicable. Shear
force was transmitted in the shear plane during push- and
pull-off test (Siao 1994).
Shear strength of low-rise shear walls was examined by
softened truss model theory, subjected to dynamic load.
Ductility and dissipated energy of the shear wall decreased
with increasing acceleration frequency. Two different
types of failure happened, namely crushing and anchor-
age failure of development length. Longer development
length of boundary elements to avoid anchorage failure
was due to greater displacement at the ultimate state when
subjected to dynamic forces (Mo and Kuo 1998).
The word “softened” emphasizes the importance of the
compression softening phenomenon which means that
cracked reinforced concrete in compression exhibits lower
strength and stiffness than uniaxially compressed concrete.
It was believed that the shear failure relating to concrete
crushing should be governed by the softening effect of
concrete. The internal stress flow of the squat wall was
highly disturbed by the presence of a concentrated load
on the top and the foundation at the bottom. In this dis-
turbed region, it was inappropriate to assume that the shear
stress was uniform. Therefore, the strut-and-tie model was
believed to be a better choice in modelling the flow of the
forces of the squat wall with compressive struts represent-
ing the flow of concentrated compressive stresses in the
concrete and tension ties representing the reinforcing steel
(Hwang et al. 2001).
Shear strength of walls was calculated by shear friction
theory. Figure 33 shows shear friction between the two
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Fig. 33  Shear friction
elements. Shear strength of concrete-to-concrete interface
subjected simultaneously to shear and compression forces
was ensured by friction only. The parameters affecting
shear friction were compressive strength of weakest con-
crete, normal stress at the interface, shear reinforcement
crossing the interface, and roughness of the substrate sur-
face (Santos and Julio 2010).
Shear strength of shear wall was calculated and com-
pared with different codes (Mexico, Canada, New Zealand,
and Europe). The shear strength of shear walls was seen
to increase by the presence of boundary elements, but this
was not considered in the calculation (Ramos et al. 2012).
Shear strength of the shear wall was calculated based
on the contribution of the diagonal concrete strut and the
web reinforcement. Two major methods were used to esti-
mate the shear strength of shear walls, namely truss-based
model (stresses distribution in the central panel is uniform)
and strut-and-tie model (compressive stress concentrated
along the paths of concrete struts). These two methods
differ based on the distribution of stress in the web of the
squat wall. Since the distribution of stresses in the web
of the squat wall is quite disturbed, the behaviour of the
truss model cannot be considered realistic, leading to inac-
curate prediction of failure mode. Hence, the strut-and-tie
model was adopted to develop a closed-form expression
for shear strength estimation of RC squat walls. The shear
strength of the squat wall was influenced by aspect ratio,
web reinforcement ratios, axial loading, concrete compres-
sive strength, and wall cross section shape (Kassem 2015).
In strut-and-tie model, several possible failure modes of
RC squat wall were identified from the past experimental
results such as diagonal tension, diagonal compression,
and sliding shear. Diagonal compression failure was con-
sidered to estimate the shear strength of the RC squat wall
based on the strut-and-tie model. After the development
of cracking, the concrete split into a series of diagonal
struts making an angle of α to the horizontal direction. The
steel bars were subjected to tension and concrete acted as
compression struts, thus forming strut-and-tie action that
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
was expected to resist the applied shear and axial load
(Kassem 2015).
The effect of 420 MPa and 550 MPa reinforcing bars on
the shear strength of the shear wall under cyclic loading
was investigated. Behaviour of failure mode, safety margin,
and average crack width of slender shear wall with 550 MPa
bars were similar to those of walls with 420 MPa (Baek
et al. 2017).
7 Loading Protocol
All the structures have different structural configurations
and strength capacity. Different kinds of load (axial load,
bending, shear, and torsion) act on the structure that will
affect the strength. In the seismic region, structures are con-
tinuously subjected to earthquake load. Two earthquakes do
not have the same magnitude; it differs. Experiments were
conducted for different structures, and the maximum load-
carrying capacity of the structure was determined. Loading
history is a very important consideration. Generally, behav-
iour of the structure was evaluated under deflection control
or load control. Up to yield point, force control was used
to evaluate the behaviour of the structure, and post-yield
region deflection control was used to compute the response
of the structure (Krawinkler 2009). Some of the protocols
were developed for analysing the response of the structure.
Strength evaluation of structure under seismic load was
an important consideration. For experimental evaluation, the
performance of the structure under cyclic loading was com-
puted. Cyclic loading protocol was followed based on (a)
ACI 318 “Building Code Requirements for Structural Con-
crete” (b) ACI 437 “Code Requirements for Load Testing
of Existing Concrete”. The cyclic load test (CLT) method
was first proposed by ACI Committee 437 in a report-type
document in 2007 [ACI 437 2007] for strength evaluation of
existing structures. The loading protocol had at least three
minimum load sets, where each load set had two identical
load cycles. For the maximum load in each cycle, the load
was applied at five steps as shown in Fig. 34. The minimum
hold time given for deflection measurement for each load
step should be at least 2 min. The maximum load considered
in the first two cycles (A and B) should be 50 per cent of the
applied test load (ATL). Loading starts at a minimum load
level of 10 per cent of ATL and increased equally. Then, load
applied in cycle C and D was considered as halfway between
cycle A and cycle E. The load was applied such that the first
and second load steps in cycle C are equal to the third and
fifth load steps in cycle A, respectively. In the last two cycles
E and F, maximum load was applied to 100 per cent of ATL.
The load in the first and second load steps in cycle E should
be equal to the load in the third and fifth load steps in cycle
C (ElBatanouny et al. 2015).
Fig. 34  Loading protocol for cyclic load test, ACI 437.2–13
8 Conclusions
This paper summarizes the experimental studies and numeri-
cal simulations of the behaviour of precast shear wall con-
nections under various loading conditions. Various types of
connections were used to transfer the load from one struc-
tural element to another structural element. Many research-
ers developed new connections, both dry and wet connec-
tions, for which load-carrying capacity, deflection, crack
propagation, and ductility of the connections were analysed
and also various failure modes of the shear wall were dis-
cussed. The ductility of the shear wall was normally between
3 and 6.
The shear strength of the walls increased by the amount
of vertical reinforcement in the web and boundary elements.
Shear strength of squat shear walls was estimated based on
the strut-and-tie model, whereas slender shear walls were
analysed in flexure using nonlinear beam theory. Shear
strength between two concrete surfaces was determined by
shear friction theory.
The different failure modes in a shear wall under lateral
loading are sliding shear failure, flexure failure, diagonal
tension failure, diagonal compression failure, and hinge slid-
ing failure.
Vertical (loop connection, shear keys, shear keys with
loop connection, channel connection, loose plate connec-
tion, friction-type mechanical connectors, and bolted con-
nection) and horizontal (shear keys, grouted splice sleeve,
dry pack grout, reinforcing bars with welded connection,
reinforcing bars welded to steel plates, bolted connections,
post-tensioned tendons, post-tensioned tendons with supple-
mentary energy dissipators, grouted dowels, and continuity
bars in metal ducts) connections were used to connect the
shear walls.
The commonly used vertical connection is the overlap-
ping loop connection. Various parameters like loop diameter,
spacing, and overlapping length were studied. Ultimate load-
carrying capacity of the specimen increased by increasing
13

the overlap length of the loops, decreasing the space between
adjacent loop bar, and increasing the amount of transverse
reinforcement. The strength and stiffness were found to be
satisfactory.
Shear keys play an important role in the shear resistance
of walls. Shear capacity and shear resistance of multiple
shear keys were greater than that of the plain surface. The
failure mode of the shear key was influenced with the depth
of the shear key. The larger key indentations failed by con-
crete key cut-off, and the smaller key indentations suffered
local crushing failure at the key corners. Ductile behaviour
of the joints with shear keys and reinforcement connection
is influenced by properties of mortar and precast concrete,
properties of reinforcement, geometry of the shear key, and
frictional properties of the joint.
Mechanical connectors like stud plate connection and
frictional type were also commonly used to connect precast
walls. Stud plate connection exhibited low ductility, which
was not suitable for the high seismic region. Frictional type
of mechanical connectors improved structural integrity and
its response effectively.
Horizontal connection using grouted splice sleeve con-
nection exhibited good energy dissipation capacity com-
pared to post-tensioned tendons. Failure of dry pack grout
was due to crushing and spalling. The performance was bet-
ter when shear keys were included.
For the prestressed wall system, if left unbonded over
a certain length, elastic restoring force will prevent rock-
ing failure and less cracking was observed. The PT system
exhibited less energy dissipation capacity. Hence, to increase
the energy dissipation supplementary energy dissipators in
the form of mild steel reinforcement and friction plates were
used.
Two major methods were used to estimate the shear
strength of the squat shear walls, namely the softened truss
model and the strut-and-tie model. The strut-and-tie model
was believed to be a better choice in modelling the flow of
forces of squat wall with compressive struts representing the
flow of concentrated compressive stresses in the concrete
and tension tie representing the reinforcing steel.
Loading history is an important consideration. Behaviour
of the structure was evaluated under deflection or load con-
trol. Up to yield point, force control was used and post-yield
region deflection control was used to compute the response
of a structure.
ACI committee 437 first proposed loading protocol for
the cyclic load test (CLT) method in 2007 for strength evalu-
ation of structures.
Shear walls are used for the construction of tall build-
ings. The strength of the shear wall used in the building is
influenced by the position of the shear wall, stiffness of shear
wall, the number of shear walls provided in the buildings,
and connection between the wall elements. The connection
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
between the wall panels plays an important aspect in the
seismic risk region. Hence, connections between shear walls
in seismic risk regions should be properly designed and
detailed. Still, further research should be done on behaviour
of the connections between the shear walls to increase the
strength and stiffness of the connections.
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