Simulation of shake‐table test for a two‐story low‐damage concrete wall building

To support the development of low-damage concrete structures, a system-level shake-table test of a two-story concrete wall building implementing state-of-the-art design concepts was conducted using the multi-functional shake-table array at Tongji University as part of an international collaborative project. The test building was designed with a perimeter frame and exterior post-tensioned concrete walls in both directions. Different floor systems and wall-to-floor connections were incorporated in the test building to compare a number of design concepts and construction details. A range of energy dissipation devices were installed at the wall base and/or slotted-beam joints of the test building. To simulate the test building response during the shake-table tests, numerical models of the test building in both the longitudinal and transverse directions were established in OpenSees. Because the test building utilized flexible and isolated wall-to-floor connections that specifically reduced potential wall-to-floor interaction, planar frame numerical models were selected to represent the test building in each direction of loading. In the models, fiber hinge elements were used to simulate the unbonded post-tensioned walls and a modified multi-truss spring method was adopted to simulate the slotted-beam joints with and without dampers. Inelastic time-history analyses of the numerical models were conducted considering three earthquake intensities and comparisons of the test and simulation responses of the building are presented. The simulation results showed that the analytical model established in this study could reasonably predict both the global and local responses of the test building under different shaking intensities.