Seismic behavior of recycled plastic lumber walls: An experimental and analytical research

• Published in: Engineering structures 2018-12, Vol.177, p.566-578
• Main Authors: Herrera, Juan P., Bedoya-Ruiz, Daniel, Hurtado, Jorge E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Cyclic loading test; Damping; Design for recycling; Ductility; Earthquake resistance; Earthquake resistant design; Earthquakes; Energy dissipation; Failure modes; Housing; Housings; Hysteresis; Lumber; Multilinear Hysteretic Model; Plastic debris; Plastic lumber; Plastic pollution; Plastics; Pollution; Polymers; Recycled materials; Recycled Plastic Lumber; Recycled products; Seismic activity; Seismic behavior; Seismic design; Seismic engineering; Seismic response; Structural walls; Walls; Wood
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.10.006

•Hysteretic and seismic behaviors of the Recycled Plastic Lumber walls are presented.•Structural parameters of the Recycled Plastic Lumber walls are determined.•Recycled Plastic Lumber walls do not exhibit fragile failure modes under cyclic test.•Multilinear hysteretic model fits well the nonlinear dynamical behavior of the walls.•Recycled Plastic Lumber walls have a satisfactory performance under seismic loads. Recycled Plastic Lumber (RPL) is a wood-like material made from recycled plastics that aims to diminish the environmental pollution resulting from plastic wastes. This material is used in different kinds of nonstructural and structural applications. Recently, RPL has been proposed as a suitable material to develop structural walls that comprise the seismic resistant system of housings, in order to lessen the housing deficiency. This article presents the results drawn from an experimental campaign carried out over three full-scale RPL walls, which were tested under cycling loading conditions to determine structural parameters such as strength, hysteretic behavior, ductility, energy dissipation, equivalent damping and characteristic failure modes of the RPL walls, which are necessary to design and to assess seismically the housings. Finally, a multilinear hysteretic model capable of simulating the nonlinear dynamic behavior exhibited by RPL walls was implemented, in order to simulate and to assess the seismic behavior of them under strong and destructive real earthquakes.