Investigation of the seismic response of slender planar concrete walls

Structural walls are one of the most commonly used lateral-load resisting systems, and many previous studies have addressed the seismic performance, analysis and design of these systems. However, few previous tests have focused on the performance of structural wall systems and few have simulated the reinforcement patterns and loading distributions found in modern structures. As such, limited data have been available for validation of the models used in performance-based design of these systems. To overcome deficiencies in previous tests, large-scale reinforced concrete walls are being tested using the advanced equipment, control algorithms and instrumentation available at the NEES facility at the University of Illinois. Test specimens include planar, coupled, c-shaped and core wall subassemblages. To simulate the demand originating from the upper stories of a multi-story structure, specialized load-and-boundary- condition boxes (LBCBs) are used. Testing of the first series of specimens, four planar walls, was completed in 2008. Data from these tests show the influence of the shear-force distribution and longitudinal reinforcement configuration on wall behavior, drift capacity, the progression of damage, and the contribution to total deformation of flexural, shear, anchorage and other response mechanisms.

9th US National and 10th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2010, Including Papers from the 4th International Tsunami Symposium

Investigation of the seismic response of slender planar concrete walls Conference Paper