Experimental Evaluation of the System-Level Seismic Performance and Robustness of an Asymmetrical Reinforced Concrete Block Building

In recent years, research interests in studying the response of different seismic force-resisting systems have been shifting from component-level to system-level studies. Building on the existing knowledge of component-level performance of reinforced masonry shear walls (RMSW), the current study evaluates some similarities and discrepancies between RMSW system-level and component-level responses under seismic loading. The study also focuses on evaluating the system-level seismic robustness of a RMSW building by quantifying key relevant robustness indicators proposed in the literature. To meet the study objectives, an experimental asymmetrical two-story reduced-scale RMSW building was tested to failure under simulated seismic loading. Subsequently, the study first presents a brief summary of the experimental program followed by a discussion of the damage sequence and the load-displacement hysteretic behavior of the RMSW building. In general, the experimental results demonstrated the impact of both the floor slab-induced twist and wall flexural coupling through the floor slabs on the building response, with the latter significantly influencing the building response compared to the former. In addition, the robustness indexes quantified for five key robustness indicators (drift ratio, strength, stiffness, strain energy, and residual drift ratio) can provide a means by which the system-level performance of RMSW buildings can be assessed from different perspectives under a wide range of seismic demands.