Non-linear seismic response of reinforced concrete slit shear walls

The reinforced concrete slit shear wall system has been introduced recently as a new breed of earthquake resistant structures. Some theoretical and experimental investigations have been conducted to study the behaviour of isolated connecting beams and slit shear wall models under static load, but little work has been carried out to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the structural system. In this paper, the non-linear seismic response of slit shear walls under earthquake excitation is analyzed. Based on a simplified structural model, which is shown to have sufficient accuracy for slit shear wall structures, the influence of the elasto-plastic behaviour of the connecting beams on the dynamic response of the slit shear wall structure is evaluated. The results reveal that yielding of the connecting beams can significantly reduce the deflection response of the slit shear wall structure and the seismic loading induced on it. Moreover, there appears to be an optimum yield strength value for the connecting beams that would lead to the best overall seismic performance of the slit shear wall system. (C) 1999 Academic Press.