Precast concrete building cores are a widely used lateral load resisting system in low and mid-rise multi-storey buildings. However, despite their widespread use in countries like Australia or New Zealand, a very little research or experimental testing has been undertaken to assess their lateral drift behaviour. This article will present the findings and observations of a recent experimental testing programme into reinforced concrete precast building cores, which included three large-scale ‘box-shaped’ precast building core specimens. Adjacent panels in each specimen were connected together using welded stitch plate connections and then connected to foundation blocks on the top and bottom using grout tube connections. The results of the testing showed that the welded stitch plate connections were too flexible to allow full composite action to be developed in the cross-section, which meant the precast building core specimens were around 25% more flexible than an equivalent cast in-situ version. The testing also highlighted common detailing and construction deficiencies that can severely inhibit the ductility of the core.

中文翻译：

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预制混凝土建筑核心筒极限性能和横向漂移行为的试验评估

预制混凝土建筑核心筒是中低层多层建筑中广泛使用的抗侧向荷载系统。然而，尽管它们在澳大利亚或新西兰等国家广泛使用，但很少有研究或实验测试来评估它们的横向漂移行为。本文将介绍最近对钢筋混凝土预制建筑核心筒进行的实验测试计划的发现和观察结果，其中包括三个大型“箱形”预制建筑核心筒标本。每个试样中的相邻面板使用焊接缝合板连接连接在一起，然后使用灌浆管连接连接到顶部和底部的基础块。测试结果表明，焊接缝合板连接过于灵活，无法在横截面中发挥完全的复合作用，这意味着预制建筑核心试样的柔性比等效的现场浇铸版本高约 25% . 测试还强调了常见的细节和结构缺陷，这些缺陷会严重抑制核心的延展性。