Precast concrete wall-raft connectors for increasing the lateral load capacity: An experimental and analytical approach

Precast structural walls and rafts commonly resist lateral load in structures owing to improved traits and faster construction. The behavior of five different types of precast reinforced concrete structural wall and raft connection systems is evaluated in this study. In all five configurations, the cyclic load is applied in the wall systems to observe the lateral load-carrying capacity and hysteretic characteristics. The damage and failure patterns were assessed. To confirm and contrast the behavior of the proposed precast structural wall and raft connection systems with the experimental findings, FEM analysis was used. Only shear and flexural cracks were observed. The specimen with 12 mm dia rods has the maximum load carrying capacity of 10.23 kN in the negative cycle, which is 57% more than the specimen without grouting and connector. The suggested connection can improve the resistance behavior in all key directions by absorbing more energy than precast walls under dynamic load.