Lateral Load Response of Total Precast Building Systems

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The proposed research project has as its primary objective to characterize the load-deflection response of total precast shear-wall systems for buildings under lateral and vertical load. The target applications is the design of buildings of up to 35 storeys in areas of low to medium seismicity. This work will provide the knowledge required to support the development of new code provisions related to drift limits under lateral load that apply specifically to total precast buildings. Current drift limits in the code were developed for cast-in-place shear wall systems and give no consideration to the unique load-deflection characteristics of total precast systems that arise from the connection details used.The work will include a significant experimental component, consisting of relatively simple tests of the load-deflection response of the two most common types of connector used in these systems, and of a scale model test of a simple three-dimensional shear-wall system. The results of this experimental work will be used in the development of numerical modeling strategies suitable for total precast shear wall systems.The work has the potential to increase the market for total precast buildings in Canada. The work will support the development of code provisions pertaining specifically to the lateral load response of total precast buildings. In general, engineers are reluctant to design and owners are reluctant to build structural systems for which specific code provisions are not available. For both parties, specific code provisions provide a reliable basis for demonstrating that the structural system under consideration will be capable of performing its function as intended. The absence of code provisions that relate specifically to total precast buildings has thus been a significant barrier preventing the greater use of this type of structure. By enabling the drafting of code provisions that relate specifically to the performance of total precast buildings under lateral load, the proposed research will enable this significant barrier to be removed. In this way, the proposed research has the potential to increase the market for total precast buildings in Canada.