Study on Seismic Performance of Precast Hollow Wall Panel Connected by Embedded Steel Box Joints

Abstract

In recent years, the advancement of modular prefabricated construction has driven the adoption of prefabricated hollow wall structures because of their lightweight and high strength characteristics. However, these structures face challenges, such as connection integrity, cohesion, and ease of assembly. To address these shortcomings, this study proposes an innovative prefabricated hollow wall structure featuring a novel joint connection system. A combination of experimental validation and finite element simulation was employed to assess the reliability of the new joint configuration as a load‐bearing wall through nonlinear analysis. A subsequent parametric study evaluated the influence of factors such as the ratio of axial compressive force to ultimate capacity ratio, aspect ratio, and steel box dimensions on structural performance. The findings reveal that incorporating box‐type joint connections significantly enhances the seismic resilience of prefabricated hollow wall structures. Increasing the aspect ratio leads to increase in yield load, ultimate bearing capacity, and structural ductility. Conversely, increasing the ratio of axial compressive force to ultimate capacity initially improves ultimate bearing capacity and yield strength before leading to a decline at higher ratios. Variations in ductility coefficients are also observed under different ratios of axial compressive force to axial compressive ultimate capacity ratios for hollow wall panels. Additionally, changes in steel box size also affect the structural load‐carrying capacity, highlighting the importance of selecting appropriate dimensions for optimal assembly performance.