Experimental study on the seismic performance of short shear walls comprising cold-formed steel and high-strength reinforced concrete with concealed bracing

Abstract This study investigates the seismic performance of a composite structure comprising cold-formed steel and high-strength concrete. Four short shear walls composed of cold-formed steel and high-strength concrete, namely, one specimen without diagonal bracing, one with angle-steel bracing, and two with lattice bracing, were designed for testing their low cyclic loading. The cracking load, ultimate displacement, maximum horizontal bearing capacity, failure process, hysteretic curve, and skeleton curve of the four specimens were obtained during the test. The results showed that the use of cold-formed steel-concealed bracing in the high-strength concrete short shear wall can effectively change the failure mode of the wall into bending shear failure with good ductility. An analysis of the energy dissipation of the four specimens revealed that the energy dissipation capacity and ductility of high-strength concrete short shear wall with cold-formed steel concealed bracing were improved, indicating that the use of cold-formed steel concealed bracing greatly improved the total energy dissipation capacity of high-strength concrete short shear wall. The calculated shear bearing capacity in the diagonal section of the wall with concealed bracing was compared with the measured one. Considering specifications, a formula for calculating the shear capacity in the oblique section of short shear wall with concealed bracing was proposed.