Experimental Study on the Cyclic Performance of Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls Exposed to Fire

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the thermal and cyclic behaviors of fire-damaged walls designed with different failure modes, aspect ratios and heated areas. These cyclic behaviors include temperature distribution, maximum lateral load, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipations, etc. Toward this goal, the concrete wall specimens were exposed to heat following an ISO 834 standard time-temperature curve and the cyclic loading was applied to the fire-damaged walls. The test results showed that exposure to fire significantly reduced the cyclic performance of the RC walls. Especially, it was observed that heated area, designed failure mode, and aspect ratio have influences on maximum lateral loads, stiffness, and ductility of the fire-damaged walls, while almost no effects of the heated area, designed failure mode, and aspect ratio on temperature distribution and energy dissipation were found.