Title: Design and Seismic Testing of Two-Story, Full-Scale Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Assemblage Specimen

Author(s): Jennifer E. Tanner, Jorge L. Varela, and Richard E. Klingner

Publication: Structural Journal

Volume: 102

Issue: 1

Appears on pages(s): 114-119

Keywords: autoclave; cellular concrete; shearwall

DOI: 10.14359/13536

Date: 1/1/2005

Abstract:
An autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) assemblage specimen was constructed and tested as the culmination of a comprehensive research study of AAC structural systems at a university laboratory. The objectives of the two-story assemblage specimen were to verify that a system of squat AAC shearwalls designed to fail in a flexure-dominated mode would indeed fail in flexure; to verify proposed design provisions for AAC shearwalls and floor diaphragms; to verify proposed analytical models for such elements and systems; and to verify proposed seismic design procedures for AAC structural systems. The assemblage test met those objectives. The shearwalls conformed to predictive models, with stable hysteretic loops up to drift ratios exceeding 0.3%, and displacement ductilities ranging from 2.5 to 6. These drift ratios and displacement ductilities are calculated with the effects of sliding removed. For design purposes, these results justify the assumption of an available displacement ductility of at least 2.5. Damage did not occur in the AAC floor diaphragms or their connections to the walls, verifying that the behavior of the specimen was governed by the behavior of the shearwalls themselves. This test confirms that the design objective of flexure-dominated failures can be achieved even with relatively squat walls.