Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Effect of Implementing Wall Posts on Seismic Behavior of Short-Period Structures

The investigation of damage to buildings in terms of non-structural walls collapse in the past earthquakes have caused researchers to study the seismic behavior of walls more extensively. Furthermore, seismic design codes have considered using wall posts to prevent wall damage, however, not many studies were done on seismic behavior change in structures due to the addition of wall posts. Therefore, in this study, a two-story structure was simulated in laboratory conditions on a shaking table with a scale of 1:3. This structure was subjected to Kobe scaled ground motion in two cases including with and without the wall and wall post on the second floor. According to the experimental results, the maximum first and second floors҆ displacement and the first-floor acceleration of the structure with wall and wall post compared to the structure without wall and wall post showed a decrease by 6.52, 10.75, and 60.23%, respectively. Comparison of experimental and numerical results showed a difference of 2-10%. Moreover, 10 two- and three-story structures with different wall arrangements in height were numerically modeled and studied by time-history dynamic analysis under 7 simulated records. The results showed that by adding a wall post to the wall to restrain it, and ignoring the effects of wall stiffness in design techniques, can cause a significant error in the seismic design procedure.