Characterization and optimization of a steel beam to RC wall connection for use in innovative hybrid coupled wall systems

Abstract

Steel-concrete hybrid solutions with replaceable fuses as coupling elements and appropriately detailed com-posite connections have shown their efficiency to design safe and easily repairable earthquake-resisting struc-tures.Inthisgeneralframework,thebehaviorofapossiblesteeltoconcretecompositeconnectiontobeusedinarecently suggested Hybrid Coupled Wall (HCW) system, consisting of a reinforced concrete shear wall coupledwithsteelsidecolumnsviadissipativesteelshearlinks,isstudiedinthispaper.ThesteelshearlinksareboltedtoasteelprofileeitherpartlyembeddedorpassingthroughtheRCwall.Theconnectionzoneisdesignedinsuchawaythatthedamagealwaysoccursinthesteelshearlinks(fuses)priortoanydamageintheRCwallingeneralandintheconnectionzoneinparticular.Theemphasisliesthereforeonthecharacterizationofasuitable“steellink+embedded composite connection within the RC wall” configuration and on the evaluation of an appro-priate embedment length allowing the concentration of seismic damage to the replaceable steel links. To thispurpose, twojointconfigurations aredesigned basedon acapacity-basedapproach, namely“partlyembedded”and “completely passing through” steel beam, and are examined through detailed FE analyses. A parametricstudy is carriedout to provide sufficient insight into the system interms of strength,stiffness and local bearingstrength, in view of validating the proposed design procedure