Experimental Study on the Seismic Performance of Superimposed RC Shear Walls with Enhanced Horizontal Joints

The seismic performance of superimposed reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls is decreased by rocking behavior and damage concentration at the horizontal joint. An enhanced horizontal joint method is proposed to improve the corresponding seismic performance. To validate the reliability of the proposed method, three full-scale superimposed walls and a cast-in-place shear wall (for comparison) are designed and tested under the quasi-static load. The test results indicate that the rocking phenomenon can be prevented using the proposed method, and the seismic performance of superimposed RC shear walls with enhanced horizontal joints is comparable to that of the cast-in-place RC shear walls.