ABSTRACT
Cement polystyrene shell mold (CPSM) grid concrete walls have been widely applied in the construction of low and mid-rise buildings with higher load-bearing and insulation properties. A star-type grid concrete wall was constructed based on the infill wall simplified to an equivalent diagonal bracing model. To investigate the seismic responses and behavior of a star-type grid concrete wall structure, an overall time-history numerical simulation was carried out in this paper. Typical results, including acceleration, deformation, hysteresis curve and failure pattern of this novel construction system, were interpreted. Results indicate that the star-type grid concrete wall structure has satisfactory seismic performance, including energy dissipation capacity. The structure has higher lateral stiffness and can work in an elastic state under major earthquakes. Accordingly, it is more sensitive to near-fault ground motion with higher frequency components. Meanwhile, the structural inter-story drift angle is less than the limit value of lighter damage when subjected to a super-major earthquake, and the structure presents shear deformation. The openings significantly affect the failure mode, the star-type grid concrete wall with a window (a small aspect ratio less than 1.11) conforms to shear failure, and the wall with a door (aspect ratio of 2.5) conforms to bending-shear failure. The diagonal bracing can distribute the stress in the wall, especially the concrete lattice beam, and effectively resist the lateral forces via the concrete lattice column, improving the ductility and integrity of the structural system.
ABSTRACT
To investigate the static and dynamic characteristics of rubber-sand composite soil (RS soil) reinforced with cement, a series of triaxial compression tests and resonant column tests was performed by considering the influence of rubber content (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%), cement content (0, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.0 g/100 mL), and effective consolidation confining pressure (50, 100, and 150 kPa). Compared with the RS soil, the addition of cement significantly improved the shear strength of a cement-rubber-sand composite soil (RCS soil), based on an undrained shear test. The increase in cement content not only makes the elastic modulus and cohesion of the RCS soil increase but also reduces the internal friction angle of the RCS soil. With the increase in rubber content, the failure of the RCS soil samples changes from strain-softening to hardening, and the prediction equation of the initial elastic modulus of the RCS soil is given herein when the recommended cement content is 3.5 g/100 mL. The effects of rubber content, cement content, and effective confining pressure on the dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of the RCS soil were studied via the resonant column test. The test results show that the increase in rubber content slows down the modulus attenuation of the RCS soil, but increases its damping ratio. The test results also show that the increase in cement content makes the bonding force between particles greater so that the modulus attenuation of the RCS soil becomes slower and the damping ratio is reduced. At the same time, according to the change rule of the maximum dynamic shear modulus of the RCS soil with the rubber content, when the recommended cement content is 3.5 g/100 mL, an empirical formula and recommended value of the shear modulus Gmax of the RCS soil are proposed.
ABSTRACT
The near-surface part of the crust, also called the skin of the earth, is the arena of human activity of which the stiffness is of great concern to engineers in infrastructure construction. The stiffness reduction of near-surface geomaterials also plays a vital role in geohazards triggering. However, the physical mechanism behind the material softening is still not fully understood. Here, we report a coseismic shear-wave velocity reduction in the near surface by up to a few tens of percent during the strongest shaking from the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake and a subsequent two-stage healing process including a rapid recovery within a few minutes and a slow recovery over many years. We also present a theoretical contact model between mineral grains in geomaterials containing multiple metastable contacts at small separations due to the oscillatory hydration interaction, which can explain the emergence of different stages in the healing process.
