The lateral load-deformation response of RC walls with a consideration of the height–length ratio

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) walls play an important role in resisting earthquakes, so understanding the lateral load-deformation response of an RC wall subjected to an axial load, shear, and moment is essential to nonlinear structural analysis. In this study, the moment-bending deformation response of an RC wall under an axial load and moment is obtained from moment–curvature analysis using the wall’s proper plastic hinge length. Furthermore, modified compression-field theory, adjusted according to the height–length ratio of the wall, is used to calculate the shear–shear deformation response of the wall under an axial load and shear. By integrating the moment-bending deformation and the shear–shear deformation responses, the lateral load-deformation response of the RC wall under axial load–moment–shear interaction can be reasonably determined. To confirm the reliability of the proposed method, experimental results for 67 RC walls are compared with analysis results from the proposed method. The statistical results show that the proposed method accurately predicts the lateral ultimate load but somewhat underestimates the lateral ultimate deformation. Finally, this paper gives an example using an equivalent column to simulate an RC wall using SAP2000 pushover analysis.