Cyclic tensile testing of a three-way panel connection for precast wall-slab-wall structures

Wall-slab-wall buildings, in precast configuration or not, are relatively widespread in many European and non-European countries, independently of the level and nature of seismic hazard to which the country is prone. Thus, this building archetype, featuring no columns or beams, but only slabs and walls, can be equally found both in areas characterized by potentially high-damaging tectonic earthquakes and regions where small-to-medium-size natural/anthropogenic seismic events would instead be expected. Notwithstanding the above, relatively little information has been offered so far on the seismic response/performance of these structures and their key components, which in case of a precast system/layout will inevitably be the connections between the structural elements. To partly fill such knowledge gap, this paper concerns the latter configuration and deals with experimental testing of panel-to-panel joints, which are not only two-way links but also three-way connections because it is very common for such structures that contiguous panels are connected to a transverse shear wall. Not surprisingly, very recent pseudostatic and shake-table tests on full-scale specimens, undertaken by the authors to characterize the performance of this structural system up to incipient/near collapse, have indicated how the latter panel joints are the weakest link of the system tested, thus prompting further component testing, in cyclic/asymmetric fashion, to single out the response of the joint. Monotonic and cyclic response curves of the five specimens and the counterpart damage patterns revealed that the observed flexural failure mechanism is very stable and aligns very well with that mobilized by the full-scale building tests.