Analysis of Shear-Critical Reinforced Concrete Plane Frame Elements under Cyclic Loading

Abstract

An analytical procedure was recently developed for the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete frame structures consisting of beams, columns, and shear walls under monotonic loading. The procedure is distinct from others because it is capable of inherently and accurately considering shear effects and significant second-order mechanisms with a simple modeling process suitable for use in practice. In this study, the procedure is further developed to enable the performance assessment of shear-critical frame structures under general (arbitrary) loading, including the special cases of cyclic and reversed-cyclic loads. Newly developed and implemented formulations are described and applied to 11 previously tested specimens for verification. Important considerations in nonlinear modeling and the limitations of the procedure are also discussed. The procedure is found to accurately simulate the overall experimental behaviors of the specimens examined. Performance measures, such as load and deformation capacities, stiffnesses, energy dissipations, ductilities, failure modes, crack widths, and reinforcement strains, are typically captured well. The procedure exhibits excellent convergence and numerical stability, requiring little computational time.