Experimental Study of RC Prefabricated Shear Walls with Shear Keys Affected by a Slotted Floor Slab

Abstract

Prefabricated RC shear walls are widely used in practical engineering due to their convenient construction. For ease of transport, they are commonly divided into smaller limbs and assembled on site. Steel panel shear keys are therefore adopted to connect the wall limbs and ensure assembly strength and ductility. However, the relative displacement between precast wall limbs can lead to severe damage of floors and, conversely, the wall limbs may be damaged due to the uncoordinated deformation of floor slabs. To this end, the present paper proposes a slotted floor slab with polystyrene-infilled slots set near the wall limbs for increasing the independence of the deformation of limbs. The study focused on the interaction of shear wall limbs and slotted floors. Three specimens of reinforced concrete prefabricated shear walls with shear keys were designed: (1) one specimen without floor slabs; (2) one specimen equipped with a conventional floor slab; and (3) one specimen with a slotted floor slab. Quasi-static tests were conducted, which revealed that conventional floor slabs can increase the lateral resistance and stiffness of the specimen while sacrificing ductility. The slotted floor slabs, in comparison, guarantee deformation ability without weakening the dry-connected shear walls. Above all, floor slabs are better protected if slots are set to release concentrated deformation.