Finite Element Model for Seismic RC Coupled Walls Having Slender Coupling Beams

Abstract

A finite element model capable of tracing the nonlinear response of coupled shear walls to earthquake motions is proposed. The walls are idealized as an assembly of quadrilateral elements with three degrees of freedom, two translational and one-rotational, at each corner, and nonlinearities, such as cracking, crushing of concrete, and yielding of steel, are included in the model. The coupling beams are idealized as line elements, and the nonlinearities are confined to element ends through inelastic experimentally based moment-rotation relationships. Allowance has been made for stiffness degradation and bond slippage. The rotational degree of freedom to the plane stress element makes the compatibility of rotations at the coupling-beam-wall interface possible, the evaluation of coupling beams rotation straightforward and the mathematical model elegant. The model was applied to trace the response of two coupled shear walls tested elsewhere and the results achieved were in good agreements with experimental results.