Analytical simulation of reversed cyclic lateral behaviors of an RC shear wall sub-assemblage

Experimental results of cyclic reversed lateral force test on a two-story reinforced concrete shear wall sub-assemblage are simulated analytically by using the PERFORM-3D program. A comparison of experimental and analytical results leads to the following conclusions: (1) Shear Wall and General Wall models with Concrete shear cannot simulate the pinching phenomena due to shear and show larger amounts of inelastic energy absorption than those in the experiment. (2) Modeling a story-height wall by using two or more General Wall elements with Diagonal shear in the vertical direction induces the phenomenon of swelling-out at the belly, leading to the erroneous simulation of shear behaviors. In application to tall building structures, it is recommended to use one element of General Wall with Diagonal shear for the full height of a story. (3) In the plastic hinge area, concrete deformations of analytical models overestimate elongation and underestimate shortening when compared with experimental results. Copyright © 2012 Techno Press.