Seismic performance testing and numerical analysis of prefabricated grid walls

This study proposes a prefabricated grid wall for low‐ to mid‐rise rural buildings. Based on experimental and numerical analyses of three specimens under low‐cycle reversed loading, the effects of core material type and face layer on seismic performance were investigated. The results show that the core material works synergistically with the grid by sharing compressive stress and restraining the lateral deformation of the grid ribs. The specimen with autoclaved aerated concrete as the core material showed better hysteretic behavior and load‐bearing capacity than that with expanded polystyrene particle concrete (EPSPC), whereas the EPSPC specimen exhibited better energy dissipation. The face layer provided a skin‐like confinement effect during the elastic and elasto‐plastic stages, effectively improving crack resistance and load‐bearing capacity. However, this effect weakened in the later loading stage because of the brittle tensile fracture of the face layer. In addition, increasing the number of grids in the prefabricated part improved the mechanical performance in the later loading stage, although an overly dense grid arrangement increased concrete consumption and construction complexity. Based on this study, a 3 × 3 concrete grid layout is recommended for the prefabricated part.