Computed versus Observed Inelastic Seismic Low‐Rise RC Shear Walls

Abstract

A technique of calculating inelastic deformation of low‐rise shear walls having height‐width ratios of 0.5 and 0.75 without boundary elements is presented with consideration of the coupling effect for bending and shear deformations as well as the deformation due to base rotation. An interaction surface of moment, shear, and curvature or moment, shear, and shear strain is developed. The deflections at crack, yield, and ultimate loadings can be calculated separately from bending and shear deformations, which are compared favorably with experimental results. The shear deformation is significant for the low‐rise walls studied because the deformation due to bending deformation is about 40–60% of the total deformation after the walls have reached 20% of ultimate deformation. The hysteresis rules are developed for both bending and shear deformations on the basis of theoretical and experimental studies. Favorable comparisons between the calculated and experimental responses were observed for individual walls and a low‐rise two‐story building on a shaking‐table test. A computer program was developed for structural system analysis subjected to seismic excitations.