## 2 Materials and Methods
### Experimental Program  
#### 2.2.1 Experimental Design  
The test was conducted in the Key Laboratory of Building Structures and Underground Engineering in Anhui Province, China. To study the seismic performance of the NEDC, two sets of specimens (SF-1 and SF-2) were prepared for conducting comparison tests. The test groups are shown in Table 1; SF-1 uses hook head bolts as AAC wall panel connectors, and SF-2 uses the NEDC. Figure 6 shows the two connectors used to connect the AAC wall panels with the assembled steel frames. According to GB 50011-2010 [20], the design of a single-story single-span planar steel frame was tested statically. The test piece was designed as a steel frame with a floor height of 3000 mm and a span of 3400 mm. The beams, columns, and footings used for the test were made of Q235 steel, and Q345 steel was used in the NEDC. Before the test, based on GB/T 228.1-2010 [21], tensile tests were performed on each part of the steel with different thicknesses. The properties of the steel used are shown in Table 2. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Specimen** & **Connection Type** & **Bolt Performance Grade** \\ \hline SF-1 & Hook bolts & 8.8 \\ SF-2 & NEDC & 8.8 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Specimens used for the test and their characteristics. Figure 5: Force diagrams of NEDC and AAC wall panel. Figure 6: Pictures of the connectors used: (**a**) hook bolts; (**b**) NEDC. The AAC wall panels used in the test were produced by Anhui Gaudi Environmental Protection Co. Ltd. The width, height, and thickness of the wall panel were 600, 3000, and 200 mm, respectively. The production process of the AAC wall panel is shown in Figure 7: First, the rebar is tied according to the design size, and the tied rebar is placed in a preservative liquid before being subjected to air-drying. Second, the surface of the molds used for wall panel production are coated with an anti-adhesive oil to facilitate the release of the molds after concrete formation. Subsequently, the air-dried steel mesh is placed inside the mold, and one-third of the concrete grout is injected into the mold to complete the pouring process. The main components of the concrete grout are cement, slag, river sand, and fly ash. Third, the formwork and concrete slurry are maintained in a curing room at 45 \({}^{\circ}\)C for three h. The concrete slurry can react, produce gas, and expand to reach the initial setting strength. The concrete sample that reached its initial setting strength is molded, and the concrete is transported to the cutting station after demolding is completed. The concrete is surface finished and cut to custom sizes. The remaining trimmings from cutting can be recycled to make a new concrete slurry that can be put back into production. Then, the cut concrete is numbered and transferred to the reactor and subjected to oxygenation and pre-culture in the reaction kettle for 3 h. Finally, after the finished concrete is formed by controlling the reactor's temperature, humidity, and pressure (Figure 7f), it is inspected, passed, and put into use. The basic properties of the AAC wall panel after material testing are shown in Table 3[22]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Specimen**} & **Sectional Dimension** & **Thickness** & **Yield Stress** & **Ultimate Stress** & \multirow{2}{*}{**Elongation**} \\  & **(mm)** & **(mm)** & **(N/mm2)** & **(N/mm2)** & \\ \hline Steel beam flange & HM 244 \(\times\) 175 \(\times\) 7 \(\times\) 11 & 11 & 263.4 & 401.6 & 25.2\% \\ Steel beam web & HM 244 \(\times\) 175 \(\times\) 7 \(\times\) 11 & 7 & 275.3 & 411.3 & 22.3\% \\ Steel column flange & HW 200 \(\times\) 200 \(\times\) 8 \(\times\) 12 & 12 & 289.5 & 435.4 & 24.7\% \\ Steel column web & HW 200 \(\times\) 200 \(\times\) 8 \(\times\) 12 & 8 & 278.2 & 409.8 & 20.8\% \\ Q345 & & 10 & 376.6 & 510.1 & 19.6\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Mechanical properties of steel.