Finite element analysis of high-rise prefabricated shear walls with discontinuous rebars

The seismic performance of vertical reinforcement discontinuous splice prefabricated shear walls (SGBL prefabricated shear walls) in high-rise buildings is investigated in this study. The failure mechanisms, load-bearing capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation characteristics of these walls are clarified, with particular attention given to the influence of the shear-span ratio and axial compression ratio. A refined model was established using ABAQUS finite element software, and simulations were conducted on individual SGBL wall panels under various shear-span ratios (achieved by adjusting story heights) and axial compression ratios (0.1, 0.3, 0.5). The results demonstrate that the load-bearing capacity of the wall panels increases significantly with the axial compression ratio (Specimens with shear-span ratios of 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75 exhibited increases of 76.8%, 88%, and 82%, respectively). In contrast, ductility and energy dissipation capacity are reduced. When an axial ratio of 0.5 and a shear-span ratio of 1.25 were applied, interlaced diagonal cracks were observed in specimen SW1-0.5. Therefore, the inclusion of inclined reinforcement is recommended in practice to prevent premature brittle failures. Under a constant axial compression ratio, it was found that the load-bearing capacity decreases as the shear-span ratio increases, whereas ductility and energy dissipation capacity are enhanced. Specimen SW3-0.1, characterized by a low axial compression ratio and a large shear-span ratio, exhibited the optimum energy dissipation capacity and ductility. During the simulation, no vertical cracks were observed at the joint interface between the precast panels and the cast-in-situ components, confirming that the structure exhibits excellent integrity and compatibility.