Shear Wall Buildings Research Articles

Hidden structural information reconstruction and seismic response analysis of high‐rise residential shear wall buildings with limited structural data

AbstractThe high‐rise residential shear wall structure is a crucial component of urban building clusters, while the limited availability of detailed structural information becomes a critical bottleneck in improving the accuracy of seismic performance assessment for high‐rise residential shear wall buildings in urban areas. Based on easily obtainable yet limited structural data at the urban scale, this paper proposes a method to address the shortcomings of existing research on reconstructing hidden structural information and enhance the accuracy of structural seismic performance assessment. It includes a physics‐constrained generative adversarial network module and a fuzzy inference system module to reconstruct the spatial arrangement of shear walls, and material strength grades within buildings, respectively. Validated against two actual buildings, the method outperforms the widely used simplified analysis method at the urban scale, achieving 85.9% accuracy in predicting damage states across various floors.

A Review paper Advancements in Shear Wall Design for Seismic Resistance in Residential Buildings: A Comprehensive Review

This comprehensive review synthesizes diverse studies, providing valuable insights into the advancements, challenges, and future directions in shear wall design for seismic resistance in multi-story residential buildings. It serves as a reference for researchers, engineers, and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of shear wall dynamics in the context of structural stability and seismic resilience. Shear walls are a prevalent feature in multi-story constructions as they effectively counteract horizontal forces and offer substantial rigidity and durability within the same plane. This unique quality allows them to carry both significant horizontal loads and provide support for vertical or gravitational loads, thereby presenting a valuable asset in the realm of structural engineering applications. The location and arrangement of shear walls in a building are important factors in their effectiveness in resisting seismic loads. Studies have shown that shear walls arranged in the form of a core at the center of the building are the most effective in reducing top-story displacement during earthquakes. Corrugated steel plate shear walls (CPSW) have been introduced as an alternative to flat steel plate shear walls (FPSW) due to their advantages in terms of stiffness, strength, and ductility. Double layer corrugated steel plate shear walls (DCPSW) have been found to have the highest inelastic deformations, which can be considered an advantage over CPSWs. End shear walls in tall buildings have been shown to decrease maximum inter-story drift and improve seismic performance. Keywords: Shear walls, multi-story residential buildings, lateral support, seismic performance, structural integrity, retrofitting, literature review

Earthquake economic loss assessment of existing concrete shear wall residential buildings in Eastern Canada

AbstractPast major earthquakes have demonstrated that a significant proportion of existing residential buildings are vulnerable to seismic hazards, resulting in economic and social losses. The assessment of earthquake‐induced losses is crucial for devising strategies aimed at enhancing seismic resilience through mitigation plans and emergency response measures. This study intends to provide an analytical methodology for evaluating economic losses for existing residential concrete shear wall buildings in Eastern Canada seismic zones based on Canadian‐compatible seismic capacity parameters. A sampled data set related to residential buildings in Montreal was analyzed and statistical distributions were developed that represent the proportion of buildings in different seismic design code levels and number of stories. Vulnerability analyses were performed, which involved estimating buildings' response under seismic hazard inputs according to the 2020 National Building Code of Canada and conducting loss assessment for structural components, nonstructural displacement‐sensitive components, nonstructural acceleration‐sensitive components, and contents. The results of vulnerability analyses in terms of loss ratio curves showed that the seismic performance varies between mid‐rise and high‐rise concrete shear wall buildings with different seismic design code levels, and nonstructural displacement‐sensitive components exerted the most significant influence on overall economic losses among building components. In addition, a comparison was conducted between Canadian‐compatible economic loss ratio curves and those developed based on the standard seismic capacity parameters in the Hazus technical manual and differences in predicted loss ratios were discussed. The developed loss ratio curves can be integrated into regional scale loss assessment tools for rapid estimation of earthquake‐induced economic losses for concrete shear wall buildings as a function of seismic intensity.

Estimation of Empirical Response Spectrum and local responses of the Justicia Espada Acuña Mena building using the Mod-ζ(var) method for the 2010 central Chilean mega-earthquake (Mw=8.8)

A novel system identification technique called Mod-ζ (var) is formulated, implemented, and validated to study the seismic response of a 3D R/C shear wall building during the 2010 central Chilean mega-earthquake (Mw = 8.8). The Mod-ζ(var) approach is an evolution of Least-Square modal system identification techniques, where modal parameters are adjusted through small data windows to fit seismic data in the frequency and time domains. This technique offers several advantages over traditional methods, including the estimation of time-variant dynamic properties during seismic events and the reliable assessment of continuous nonlinear modal responses. As a result, the Mod-ζ(var) approach allows for determining empirical response spectra related to each seismic input. The technique can also compute the local response of measured and unmeasured floors as the product between the nonlinear modal responses (obtained from the Mod-ζ(var) approach) and the normalized seismic mode shapes for all building floors, which can be estimated from ambient vibration data. Finally, the seismic floor deformations can be imposed on a FEM to determine relevant engineering quantities such as inter-story drift, inter-story forces, and local demand of structural elements (e.g., drift ratios, curvatures, internal forces, stresses, strains, etc.).

Model updating of a shear‐wall tall building using various vibration monitoring data: Accuracy and robustness

SummaryAcceleration measurements are often used for model updating of civil engineering structures, especially in the case of seismic monitoring. It is yet unclear if accelerations alone would generate an accurate and robust finite‐element (FE) model. This study examines this notion and analyzes the possibility of using other vibration monitoring data for model updating of shear‐wall tall buildings. This study compares the accuracy and robustness of the FE models being optimized via accelerations, roof displacement, wall rotations, interstory drift ratios, and the linear combination of these measurements. A numerical case study is analyzed using Timoshenko beams for modeling the lateral vibration of a benchmark 42‐story building under seismic excitations. Results show that the acceleration response of the examined building is mostly governed by its higher vibration modes. Depending on the characteristics of ground motions, using accelerations alone may generate an FE model biased towards higher‐order modes without effectively capturing the lower‐order modes. For instance, the first modal frequency of the updated FE model could be 12.0% lower than the true value, and the reconstructed displacement and rotation responses are noticeably inaccurate. Employing multi‐source monitoring data for model updating, for example, the combinations of roof displacement and acceleration measurements, could reduce the normalized root‐mean‐square errors in displacements by more than 70%. This study also quantifies the robustness of the FE model under various measurement noise levels and 50 pairs of earthquake records. Finally, the effects of multi‐source data on FE model updating are validated via experiments on a 7‐story shear wall building. Analysis reveals that a more accurate and robust FE model can be determined via a combination of accelerations and top displacement than via acceleration alone.

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Regular and Irregular Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall Buildings Using Fragility Curves

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Regular and Irregular Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall Buildings Using Fragility Curves

A reinforced concrete shear wall building structure subjected to internal TNT explosions: Test results and numerical validation

When an explosion occurs within reinforced concrete shear wall (RCSW) structures, the overpressures and duration of blast loads will be amplified by the confining effects of enclosed walls, which can cause more severe damage to the structure than a free air explosion (FAE). However, research on RCSW structures subjected to internal explosions (IEs) are still limited and no benchmark tests exist. To provide a benchmark for studying the blast resistance of RCSW structures subjected to IEs, three Trinitrotoluene (TNT) IE field tests were conducted in this study on a 2-story, 3 × 3-bay, 1/3 scaled RCSW substructure, in which the overpressures, displacements, and crack patterns of RCSWs were recorded. The three tests were performed consecutively after each other on the same structure at TNT loads of 95.3 g (Test-1), 253 g (Test-2), and 400 g (Test-3). The test results showed that the floor slab directly above the explosion and one of the RCSW confining the explosion failed in flexure (i.e., the support rotation angle exceeds 2°) in Test-2 with the scaled distance of 1.53, whilst the other three neighboring RCSWs failed in flexure in Test-3 with the scaled distance of 1.31. In addition, a detailed finite element model was established using LS-DYNA and was validated against the test results. The numerical simulation results showed that the energy released from TNT in IE scenarios (14.5 GJ/m3) was 1.95 times that in FAE scenarios (7.43 GJ/m3). The total blast loads applied to the RCSWs increased with the decrease of the area of opening. The average impulse applied to the four RCSWs were similar in IE scenarios, and the average impulse could be represented by the impulse at the center of each of the RCSWs (excluding the RCSW with window opening, as the opening is at the center). The shock and gas overpressure impulses at the center of RCSWs accounted for approximately 19.4 % and 80.6 % of the total impulse, respectively. Furthermore, the peak overpressures at the wall centers and the total blast loads experienced by the RCSWs under IE scenarios were 1.79 times and 11.13 times higher than those under FAE scenarios, respectively. This was due to the confinement of enclosed walls under IE scenarios. Consequently, the displacements and damage levels of the RCSW substructure under IE scenarios were much larger than those under FAE scenarios.

Seismic performance assessment of post-tensioned CLT shear wall buildings with buckling-restrained axial fuses

Post-tensioned cross-laminated timber (PT-CLT) walls have been demonstrated to be a low-damage seismic force-resisting system (SFRS) due to their self-centering capability. However, there is still a need to examine the seismic performance of such SFRS in high-seismic risk zones. This study evaluates the seismic performance of 6-, 9-, and 12-storey PT-CLT shear wall buildings in Vancouver, Canada, equipped with buckling-restrained axial fuses. The prototype buildings were designed using the displacement-based design method, and the assessment considered the most recent seismic hazard model provided in the 2020 National Building Code of Canada. To conduct nonlinear response history analysis (NLRHA) and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), numerical models were developed in OpenSeesPy and calibrated based on component- and system-level experimental tests. The NLRHA and IDA results demonstrate that all the studied buildings have adequate collapse margin ratios, with less than a 10% chance of collapsing at the maximum considered earthquakes.

Implications of the 2020 National Building Code of Canada updates on the design demands for reinforced concrete shear wall buildings

The seismic demands of the Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls (RCSWs) system are determined based on Canada’s National Building Code (NBC). NBC 2020 features the revised Canadian Seismic Hazard Model and presents the possibility of enhancing demand’s accuracy by determining design spectra based on the specific average shear wave velocity, instead of specified site classes. This paper investigates the changes in design demands for RCSWs compared to the previous edition. To do so, fifty-five RCSW prototypes were modelled using distributed mass and stiffness procedure, and their dynamic response was assessed through Modal Response Spectrum Analysis at five locations across Canada. The results highlight significant changes in deformation and force demands, where the majority of cases experienced an increase in 2020 compared to 2015 when demands were determined based on specified site classes. This study also evaluates the log-log interpolation method recommended by NBC 2020 for the design spectral acceleration.

Effect of unreinforced masonry infills on seismic performance of reinforced concrete frame‐shear wall buildings

SummaryReinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings with unreinforced masonry (URM) infilled moment frames are common in India and neighboring countries. This study assesses the influence of the URM infills on their seismic performance. Fully infilled, open first‐storied, and bare frame versions of a 25‐story shear wall building are considered. Multiple stripe analysis is conducted at five return periods to estimate their performance. Fragility functions for the collapse prevention limit state, which is based on seven engineering demand parameter exceedance thresholds, are generated and compared. The presence of infills (full or partial) is observed to have an overall positive effect on the performance of the RC frame‐shear wall buildings. The performance of the open first‐story building was comparable to that of the fully infilled building. The ratio of story shear carried by the moment frames and shear walls is studied at all return periods to understand the variation in frame shear wall interaction with increased damage for each building. In the case of buildings with infills, the frames carry a higher proportion of story shear at lower return periods. For all three buildings, the fraction of story shear carried by moment frames increases along the height of the building.

Advancing seismic resilience: Performance-based assessment of mid-rise and high-rise engineered cementitious composite (ECC) Buildings

Engineering Cementitious Composites (ECC) have received wide attention in recent years due to their enhanced mechanical properties and ductility. These properties offer an opportunity to design structures with significantly improved seismic performance having a low-damage and ductile response. However, existing research studies primarily focus on the performance of ECC at material and member scales, resulting in a knowledge gap regarding its response at the structural level. This study examines the system-level seismic response of buildings designed using ECC and compares their performance with those having conventional reinforced concrete (RC) members. For this purpose, two RC shear wall buildings (7-story and 24-story) were selected as a case study, and their elements were separately designed (for the combined gravity and lateral loads) as RC and ECC elements using the guidelines recommended by the Japan Society of Civil Engineering (JSCE) and ACI (American Concrete Institute)−318–19. The design results show that the requirement of longitudinal steel is reduced by a maximum of 24% in ECC flexural members and by 15% in compression members, in addition to a significant reduction in the required transverse reinforcement as compared to the corresponding RC members. Similarly, owing to improved tensile behavior, the ECC members also exhibited a higher shear capacity than RC members. The detailed nonlinear finite element models of the case study buildings (for both the design cases i.e., ECC and RC) were subjected to monotonic and reversed-cyclic pushover analysis, and nonlinear time history analyses (NLTHA) under a set of selected ground motions. It was observed that ECC structures exhibited significantly improved lateral capacity, revered-cyclic response, and overall seismic performance as compared to the corresponding RC structures. These results demonstrate that ECC can be effectively used to design various members for improved seismic performance of buildings.

Case studies on the seismic resilience of reinforced concrete shear wall buildings and steel dual concentrically braced buildings

This paper investigates various performance measures to assess the seismic resilience of low-to-high-rise multistory RC shear wall and steel dual concentrically braced buildings as dual seismic force-resisting systems in California. The performance measures include the risk of structural collapse, earthquake-induced repair costs, life-cycle cost, repair times, and seismic resilience. Six buildings, consisting of five-, 10-, and 15-story configurations, were selected and analyzed using the response spectrum method. The design of these buildings followed the provisions of ASCE/SEI 7-16, ACI 318-14, and AISC 341-16. To accurately simulate the structural behavior, nonlinear numerical models of the buildings were developed in the OpenSees software. Response history analyses were conducted to evaluate the dynamic behavior of each building until structural collapse, considering far-field ground motion records from FEMA P-695. The study also utilized a probabilistic building-specific loss assessment methodology provided in FEMA P-58 guideline, which explicitly accounts for the main sources of variability related to earthquake hazards and structural response. In general, the results of the probabilistic seismic performance assessment demonstrated that the code-compliant steel dual concentrically braced buildings performed poorly compared to the RC shear wall buildings, regardless of the number of stories. Specifically, the steel dual concentrically braced buildings exhibited a lower resilience index, especially in the case of low-rise buildings (i.e., five-story) during strong earthquake events.

Numerical Studies on Seismic Response of Structural Systems Using a Response-Spectra Based Intensity Measure

This paper proposes a novel intensity measure (IM) based on the geometric mean of acceleration response spectral ordinates to assess the probabilistic performance of structures subjected to seismic loading. Instead of relying solely on the fundamental period, the proposed IM is evaluated across a fixed period range for all structural systems, which allows consideration of higher mode effects and period changes due to nonlinearity. The proposed seismic IM is evaluated using two established indices sufficiency and efficiency. Sufficiency quantifies the independence of an engineering demand parameter at a specific intensity level with ground motion characteristics such as seismic magnitude [Formula: see text] and distance from site to fault plane [Formula: see text]. It is calculated by linear regression analysis, or using gradient-based relative sufficiency measures. On the other hand, efficiency is measured as dispersion across ground motions at a given intensity level for any physical response quantity. It helps to reduce computational demand for failure probability assessment by considering a smaller number of records compared to an inefficient IM for similar confidence levels. The effectiveness of the proposed IM along with 10 other IMs is demonstrated on single degree of freedom systems with various fundamental periods by performing nonlinear time history analysis using a far-field ground motion record set. The study is also extended to five degree of freedom lumped mass stick models, 2D models (4-, 8-, and 12-story archetype steel frames), and 3D reinforced concrete shear wall building model. The results indicate that the proposed IM limits dispersion to within 10% for long-time period structures, and demonstrates improved sufficiency across different structural systems. For example, gradient of the proposed IM with respect to magnitude [Formula: see text] and site-to-source distance [Formula: see text] for a 12-story steel frame is reduced by 42.9% and 94%, respectively, compared to spectral acceleration at fundamental time period. Potential application of this research lies in efficiently conducting seismic reliability assessment and design for structural systems.

Effect of lateral stiffness on expected economic losses in reinforced concrete shear wall buildings

This research paper evaluates the effect of lateral stiffness on expected economic losses in reinforced concrete shear wall buildings designed following current Chilean standards, including DS60 and DS61. Economic losses were evaluated for a group of four 20-story archetype buildings located in Santiago, Chile. The methodology developed by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center was considered to estimate economic losses. The expected annual loss (EAL) and the present value (PV) of the losses in 50 years were used as measures of economic loss. A probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, which considered the seismicity of central Chile, was performed to estimate both metrics. The results show that when the lateral stiffness of the building increases, the EAL also increases. This implies that stiffer buildings are more vulnerable from an economic point of view. This counter-intuitive finding results from the higher seismic hazard of stiffer buildings and the minimum design base shear required by DS61 that governed the design of the studied buildings. Additionally, it was found that the EAL and the PV of losses in 50 years for the four archetypes do not exceed 0.3% and 7.8% of the total construction cost of the buildings, respectively. These monetary losses are relatively low, which is consistent with the outstanding seismic performance of reinforced concrete shear wall buildings.

Comparative analyses of reinforced masonry and reinforced concrete shear walls with different end configurations: Seismic performance and economic assessment

Recent research has been demonstrating that fully-grouted reinforced masonry (RM) shear walls possess high ductile capacity levels that resulted in excellent performance under seismic loading. Considering the results of these studies, the current ductility modification factors assigned to such shear walls in relevant building codes and design standards are excessively conservative compared to the corresponding higher values assigned to their reinforced concrete (RC) counterparts. These conservative factors are mainly attributed to the lack of research studies that have been conducted to present direct comparisons between the performance of the two seismic force-resisting systems. To address this current knowledge gap and guide future editions of their relevant design standards based on experimental and analytical evidence, the objective of the current study is to show detailed comparative analyses between the performance of several RC and RM shear walls with different end configurations when both wall systems are subjected to similar seismic demands. These analyses also include a comprehensive economic assessment to equip practicing engineers and other relevant stakeholders with detailed comparisons between the two wall systems in terms of their construction costs. In this respect, six half-scaled RC shear walls were compared to three half-scaled RM shear walls, where all nine walls were tested under a quasi-static cyclic fully-reversed loading. The six RC shear walls were tested in two phases, where each phase consisted of three different wall types (i.e., rectangular, flanged, and boundary element walls) that had identical dimensions to their RM counterparts. To allow for direct comparison between the walls, Phase I RC walls with low vertical reinforcement ratios had similar lateral strength capacities as the RM walls, whereas Phase II RC walls with high vertical reinforcement ratios had similar ultimate curvature values as the RM walls. The comparison results are presented in the current study in terms of the crack patterns, load–displacement envelopes, curvature profiles, and wall displacements. Displacement ductility values, normalized periods, and equivalent viscous damping ratios are also presented for the nine walls. Finally, an economic assessment is performed to compare the walls in terms of their total rebar weights and approximate construction costs. The results demonstrate that RM shear walls can achieve an enhanced seismic performance similar to that of RC shear walls if the former walls are well-detailed (e.g., adequate confinement). Such an enhanced performance of RM shear walls is also coupled with low construction costs when compared to their RC counterparts. The current study enlarges the database of results that will facilitate assigning effective seismic performance metrics (e.g., ductility-related force modification factors) for RM shear wall buildings in future editions of building codes and design standards.

A Study on Seismic Effect on High Rise Building with & Without Shear Wall

In this paper we compare & analyze on high rise building, in this we included the reactions of seismic & effect of wind. In past years many research done on Analysis of building with and without shear walls. All the same we work for little Analysis of high rise building (G+10) with & without shear walls. The current work consist the correlation between framed & framed with shear wall building in presence wind force, earthquake force, etc For seismic design of buildings, reinforcement concrete structural walls or shear walls are higher earthquake resisting members which abstain from lateral load resistance.

Seismic Response of High-Rise Frame–Shear Wall Buildings under the Influence of Dynamic Soil–Structure Interaction

Seismic Response of High-Rise Frame–Shear Wall Buildings under the Influence of Dynamic Soil–Structure Interaction

Toward multivariate fragility functions for seismic damage and loss estimation of high‐rise buildings

AbstractData‐driven models for seismic damage and loss assessment of buildings have become more common in recent years due to the availability of large repositories of recorded and synthetic ground motions coupled with structural response simulation data. This paper explores the benefits of using bivariate and multivariate fragility functions to estimate earthquake‐induced damage and economic loss in high‐rise buildings. The dataset used in this study encompasses 15,000 simulations of modern high‐rise reinforced concrete shear wall buildings ranging from eight to 24 stories which are subjected to ground motion records at five different intensity levels. The proposed functions are conditioned on average spectral accelerations and ground motion significant duration. The results indicate that bivariate fragility functions improve damage state prediction success (Brier score) by 16%, and multivariate fragility functions by 24% relative to conventional univariate functions (standard of practice). To develop multivariate functions, nominal and ordinal probit regression models are fit to the dataset. While both models yield satisfactory predictive performance, ordinal functions can lead to a 15% reduction in misclassified collapse instances, that is, the minority class. Univariate functions tend to overestimate seismic losses at lower intensity levels while underestimating them at higher intensities. These loss estimates are significantly improved when bivariate or multivariate building fragility functions are used. Given the increase in the use of physics‐based ground motion simulations and/or multi‐variate ground motion models, from which multiple intensity measures can be extracted, a shift toward a more complex representation of fragility functions, for example, multivariate curves, is necessary and inevitable. The proposed functions are used to evaluate the performance of a portfolio of modern high‐rise reinforced concrete shear wall buildings at four sites across the Seattle, Washington metropolitan area under a potential magnitude‐9 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake scenario. The results indicate that the proposed functions can be beneficial in enhancing damage state predictions and loss estimates at a regional scale.

Elevated light-frame wood residential building physical and numerical modeling of damage due to hurricane overland surge and waves

An experimental program of a 1:6 scale elevated wood frame shear-wall residential building was developed to model the damage progression of buildings subjected to increasing hurricane surge depth and wave conditions until collapse. This paper presents testing and system identification methods used to characterize structural engineering properties of the physical model that accumulated damage during hydrodynamic testing under increasing surge depth and wave heights. Methods used include (a) quasi-static lateral load-deformation testing, (b) out-of-water dynamic structural characterization testing under free vibration, ambient vibration, and forced vibration, conducted on the test specimen prior to hydrodynamic testing, (c) in-water dynamic structural characterization during hydrodynamic testing, (d) quantification of accumulated damage in hydrodynamic testing through observed changes in the laser scan point cloud data of the specimen, and (e) finite element model updating. The accumulated damage in the test specimen is correlated to changes in modal features (frequency, damping, and mode shapes) assessed using two output-only system identification (SID) methods. In addition, finite volume numerical models are used to determine detailed pressure distributions on the test specimen which are coupled with finite element (FE) models that are updated, in a phased manner, to understand the contribution of structural and nonstructural components on the modeled stiffness and strength of the physical model. Lastly, the impact of the damage on the modal features of the physical model of the building and their sensitivity to FE model assumptions are presented.

Risk‐targeted seismic evaluation of functional recovery performance in buildings

AbstractPast earthquakes have highlighted the impact of prolonged downtime on community recovery. The introduction of performance objectives expressed in terms of recovery time has been identified as a key goal for the next generation of building codes. Recent development of downtime estimation frameworks now allows for the discussion of how to use recovery time estimates to (1) establish recovery‐targeted performance and (2) assess the functional recovery performance of buildings designed with modern code provisions. In this paper, we employ methods adapted from life‐safety provisions to evaluate building functional recovery performance using downtime simulation outputs. A scenario‐based, an intensity‐based and a risk‐targeted analysis of functional recovery performance objectives are presented. The functional recovery performance of a series of modern residential reinforced concrete shear wall archetype buildings, ranging from eight to 24 stories in height, at a site in downtown Seattle, Washington, are then assessed. Results of the scenario‐based assessment of an M9 Cascadia Subduction zone earthquake, comparable to an intensity‐based assessment at the 975‐year intensity level, show that the probability of achieving functional recovery within four months is close to zero, while the likelihood of achieving functional recovery by one year is approximately 60%. The results of the risk‐targeted assessment of the archetype buildings show a 50% probability in 50 years of the building downtime to functional recovery exceeding one month, a 43% in 50‐year probability of the downtime exceeding four months and an 8% in 50‐year probability of downtime exceeding one year. Finally, the expected annual downtime is approximately three days for all building heights considered. Disaggregation was used to identify intensity levels that contribute most of the downtime risk. The risk of downtime exceeding one month to one year is dominated by frequent, low‐intensity earthquakes (e.g., 100‐year return period). The risk of exceeding longer recovery times is dominated by less frequent, higher intensity earthquakes (i.e., return periods greater than 975 years). While the results of the analysis are sensitive to assumed damage thresholds and impeding factor delays triggered at low intensity levels, the findings suggest that reinforced concrete shear wall buildings designed following current building codes have a high risk of lengthy downtimes. Ultimately, the proposed methods and results illustrate the importance of introducing recovery‐based provisions into the next generation of building codes.