Seismic performance of precast concrete rocking walls with buckling restrained braces

The application of a buckling restrained brace (BRB) to improve the energy dissipation of a precast concrete rocking wall (PCRW) was investigated. A series of quasi-static reversed cyclic loading tests was conducted for the BRB, the PCRW subassemblage and the combined PCRW–BRB system. A commonly adopted fibre model was then developed using the Ruaumoko computer program and verified using the experimental results. The results indicate that the stable elasto-plastic BRB supplies vibration energy to the nonlinear elastic responses of the PCRW. This finding confirms that the PCRW–BRB system is a suitable alternative for use in seismic-resistant structures.