Comparison of seismic performance between thermal insulation concrete and normal concrete shear walls

Thermal insulation concrete (TIC) with glazed hollow beads (GHBs) is a new type of building materials meeting the needs of energy-saving building. The TIC is advantageous in applications due to its excellent bearing capacity and thermal insulation properties. This paper discusses the seismic performance of the shear wall with TIC. Based on the seismic tests of two specimens under low frequency cyclic horizontal loads with constant vertical actions, the hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation and failure pattern of the shear wall were investigated. A finite element model was developed and nonlinear analyses were made to simulate the quasi-static test of the shear wall using ABAQUS software. Both modal and time-history analyses of a test building with TIC were also performed using SAP2000 software. The test results show that, compared with the normal concrete shear wall (SW), the shear wall with TIC (specimens named GSW) has better energy dissipation capacity and ductility, while the failure pattern is similar.