Seismic axial collapse of short shear span RC shear walls above transfer structure

Abstract

A special class of short shear span RC shear wall exists in the form of a sub-structure at the base of slender walls in tall buildings, was found common in the low-to-moderate seismicity region. These non-seismically designed short shear span RC walls are highly stressed in axial load under gravity and lateral actions, and have limited deformability. Thus, there is a need for structural engineers to re-examine the seismic performance of this special class of short shear span RC walls under a rare earthquake event. Recently, a Modified Mohr’s Axial Capacity Model (MMACM) was developed by the authors to estimate the axial load capacity of these walls prior to axial collapse after shear failure. The model underpinned the assumption of seismic axial collapse of these walls is closely associated with out-of-plane buckling. A numerical example of a RC building with transfer structure in Malaysia, subject to seismic loading is modelled to demonstrate the use of the MMACM in estimating seismic axial collapse of short shear span RC shear walls.