Experimental Study on Joint’s Seismic Performance of a PCSW with Thermal Insulation Elements

Precast coupled shear walls with thermal insulation elements (PCSW-T) are structurally and thermally efficient systems, which are deemed promising in precast structures. Nevertheless, the beam-wall joint may still function as a weak region during seismic events, which remains a fraught issue. In this paper, an innovative connection using double-section mechanical sleeve (DMS) systems was presented and investigated experimentally. Two monolithic and four PCSW-T joint specimens, evenly divided into two groups, were tested under reversed cyclic and pushover loadings, with beam shear-span ratios of 2.5 and 0.75, respectively. Experimental results revealed that the PCSW-T joints displayed similar damage modes to the monolithic ones under different shear-span ratios, while their seismic behaviors in terms of strength, deformation, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation were even better. Consequently, the PCSW-T structure can fulfill the design criterion of “equivalent to cast-in-place”.