Experimental Study on the Seismic Behavior of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block Bearing Walls With Core Columns

The experiments of three full-scale specimens of autoclaved aerated concrete(AAC) block bearing walls with core columns,subjected to laterally low-cyclic reversed loading,were carried out to investigate their seismic performance,including their failure mode,hysteretic behavior,seismic load-carrying capacity,deformation,stiffness degradation and energy-dissipation ability,etc.The effect of the wall's opening on its seismic behavior was also studied.It is shown that,with the confinement of reinforced concrete core columns,AAC block composite bearing walls have a good ultimate deformation capacity to prevent collapse after cracking.So,it is an effective measure of AAC block bearing walls for the purpose of seismic resistance.The test results also show that the improvement of the AAC block composite bearing walls with core columns mainly depends on the way in which core columns are used,and its seismic load-carrying capacity is related to the openings of the wall,decreasing with the increase of the size of openings.The study provides useful references for application of the structural system with autoclaved aerated concrete block bearing walls.