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• Influence of damage degrees and confinement materials on seismic behavior of joints. • FE models of strengthened joints are calibrated with test results. • The predicted models of the shear capacity are good agreement with test results. • The results provide useful information for the engineering application. The seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) column composite joints strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets and enveloped steel jackets (ESJ) was investigated. Based on the existing regulations, nine specimens were designed and built to simulate pre-damage loading, rehabilitation with CFRP sheets or ESJ, and destruction tests under lateral cyclic loading to determine the performance of the two reinforcement materials (CFRP sheets and ESJ) for different degrees of seismic damage. An analysis of the hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, ductility, energy dissipation, bearing capacity degradation, stiffness degradation, and strain-displacement curves of the specimens indicated that the two strengthening materials exhibited good reinforcement performance. The ESJ improved the bearing capacity and stiffness of the specimens and the CFRP sheets improved the ductility and energy dissipation of the specimens, thereby improving the seismic behavior of the specimens. The severely damaged specimen strengthened with the CFRP sheets or ESJ did not collapse in a simulated strong earthquake and was similar to or even exceeded the seismic performance of the original specimen; this result is important and applicable to engineering practice. The ductility and energy dissipation was lower for the ESJ-strengthened specimen than the CFRP-strengthened specimen. Therefore, the ESJ material is preferable when only one type of material is used for strengthening the specimen. The seismic performance of the RC beam-SRC column frame joints strengthened with the CFRP sheets and ESJ was simulated using the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. There was a good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental results. It was proved that the simulated and experimental results of the ultimate bearing capacity of the joints in the core zones were in good agreement, which meets the design principle of "strong joint, weak member". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of the effects of different concealed bracing materials on the seismic performance of short-legged shear walls and presents the results of low-frequency cyclic loading tests on three L-shaped short-leg shear walls—one wall without concealed bracing and the other two with concealed bracing materials of steel bars and SMA bars, respectively. The tests were aimed mainly at analyzing the effects of different concealed bracing materials on seismic performance indicators such as crack pattern, bearing capacity, ductility, hysteresis performance, stiffness, and energy dissipation of the L-shaped short-leg shear walls. The results revealed that their seismic performance with concealed bracing was better than without concealed bracing. The short-leg shear walls with SMA bar concealed bracing had the lowest number of cracks and the smallest crack width, and the effect of delaying the development of cracks was more evident. The short-leg shear walls with steel reinforcement and SMA-bar concealed bracing were better in bearing capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity, with, respectively, 11% and 26.3% increase in ultimate load, 4% and 18.6% increase in ultimate displacement, and 12% and 28% increase in energy dissipation. It can be seen that setting concealed bracing effectively enhances the seismic performance of short-leg shear walls, and that short-leg shear walls with concealed SMA bar bracing have the most significant improvement in seismic performance. • The low-frequency cyclic loading tests on three L-shaped short-leg shear walls with different concealed bracing materials were conducted. • The effects of different concealed bracing materials on seismic performance indicators of the L-shaped short-leg shear walls were explored. • The short-leg shear walls with concealed SMA bar bracing have the most significant improvement in seismic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]