# Experimental Study of High-Strength Concrete-Steel Plate Composite Shear Walls
## 2 Experimental Investigation
### Test Setup, Instrumentation and Load Protocol  
The quasi-static load test was conducted on shear and flexure specimens to evaluate the seismic performance of the HS RCPSW system. Figure 3 presents the experimental setup details. Wall specimen was anchored onto the laboratory rigid floor with fasteners through the footing. One 1500 kN servo-controlled hydraulic actuator along the east-west direction was installed on the reaction wall to provide cracking loads on the specimen during the reversed cyclic load test. The vertical load was  
Figure 2: Cross-sectional Dimensions and Reinforcement Details of RCSW and RCPSW.  
applied through a 4000 kN capacity hydraulic jack that was installed beneath the rigid steel frame, and the vertical load is uniformly spread along the top surface of the wall specimen by means of two steel distribution beams. Out-of-plan steel bracings were used to keep the specimen movement in-plane and avoid twisting during testing, as can be seen in the setup photograph (Figure 3d).  
Figure 4 depicts the instrumentation layout of test specimens. The load cells were installed inside the hydraulic jack and hydraulic actuator to measure the vertical and lateral forces during the test. A Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) was attached to the surface of the loading beam to measure the displacement under cracking loads. As shown in Figure 4c, the strain rosettes with 60-mm gauge length were attached in diagonals on the concrete surface of shear specimens to capture  
Figure 3: Details of Experimental Setup (**a**) Plan View; (**b**) Front View (Section B-B); (**c**) Side View (Section A-A); and, (**d**) Photograph of Experimental Setup.  
the shear cracks. In terms of flexure specimens, individual concrete strain gauges with 60-mm gauge length were installed on the bottom part of wall panel to capture the flexure-tension cracks. Similar strain rosette and strain gauge arrangements were adopted for the embedded steel plate to measure the strain values, but the gauge length is much smaller (5 mm). Additionally, individual strain gauges with 5-mm gauge length were used to monitor the longitudinal strains in the vertical and horizontal reinforcements, as well as the I-shape steel profiles.  
Figure 5 shows the cyclic lateral displacement history that was used in the quasi-static test. The specified axial compressive load was constantly applied on the top surface of wall specimen throughout the test. The two phase mixed lateral force/displacement control cyclic loading scheme was used herein, as specified in Chinese Specification for Seismic Test of Buildings [36] and suggested  
Figure 4: Instrumentation Layout of Test Specimens (**a**) Strain Gauges on Steel Reinforcements; (**b**) Strain Gauges on I-shaped Steel Profiles and Steel Plate; and. (**c**) Strain Gauges, Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) & Load Cells on Concrete.  
by [PERSON] [8], [PERSON] [19], and [PERSON] [21]. Force control cycles were adopted before yielding occurs in shear wall specimens, and only one cycle is applied in each load step. It is possible to determine the accurate lateral forces corresponding to the first visible crack initiation and crack pattern propagation with dividing the first phase into different levels of load cycles. Once the yielding has commenced, displacement-control tests were performed by gradually increasing reversed cyclic displacements in the form of triangular waves and two repeated cycles of the same displacement amplitude were applied for each displacement increment. The magnitude of displacement in each level equals multiple times of the displacement at yield, \(y=n\Delta_{y}\), which also indicates the increasing ductility level at each cycle. The reversed cyclic load test ends until the lateral force drops below 85% of the maximum lateral load capacity. The yield dispalcemnt value, \(\Delta_{y}\), is taken as 2 mm and 6 mm for shear and flexure specimens, respectively, in this series of experimental tests based on a trial test recording.