Dynamic Response of Concrete Frames Including Plain Ductile Cementitious Composites

Abstract

Ultrahigh ductile cementitious composites (UHDCC) developed by the authors has the tensile strain capacity up to 10%. Considering UHDCC has deformability close to steel used for the reinforcement of the concrete, the authors tried to study the feasibility of using plain UHDCC in civil engineering construction. In the present study, shaking table tests were conducted on two one-quarter–scale two-story frame models. One was a reference frame made of reinforced concrete (RC), while the other was a frame, of which all the seismic-vulnerable parts were made of plain UHDCC and the rest parts were inherited from the reference RC frame. The RC frame and UHDCC frame were exposed to a series of scaled earthquakes with the peak ground acceleration ranging from 0.105g to 1.178g. The seismic capacities of two frames were evaluated in terms of damage pattern, interstory shear-drift behavior and residual drift. It is indicated that the UHDCC frame had a similar seismic resistance capacity to the reference RC frame and performed even better in vibration control. According to the acquired dynamic characteristics and tensile strain, a preliminarily explanation was given to the seismic performances of the UHDCC frame. Finally, according to the relevant provisions in various seismic codes, the seismic performance level of the UHDCC frame was estimated.