This paper describes experimental studies on the seismic behavior and design of precast concrete buildings. A half-scale two-story precast concrete building incorporating a dual system and representing a parking structure in Mexico City was investigated. The structure was tested up to failure in a laboratory under simulated seismic loading. In some of the beam-to-column joints, the bottom longitudinal bars of the beam were purposely undeveloped due to dimensional constraints. Emphasis is given in the study on the evaluation of the observed global behavior of the test structure. This behavior showed that the walls of the test structure controlled the force path mechanism and significantly reduced the lateral deformation demands in the precast frames. Seismic design criteria and code implications for precast concrete structures resulting from this research are discussed. The end result of this research is that a better understanding of the structural behavior of this type of building has been gained.
