Investigation of RC Wall Failure Mechanisms Using Nonlinear Continuum Analysis

Abstract eng:
The research presented here employed nonlinear continuum analysis to investigate the design parameters that determine the failure mechanism and deformation capacity of planar and nonplanar reinforced concrete walls. Several commonly used finite element software packages were investigated for use in nonlinear analysis of concrete walls; the ATENA software package (www.cervenka.cz) was found to best meet the requirements of accuracy, numerical efficiency and robustness, as well as ease of use. One of the most important properties was the automated regularization of concrete material response in compression. Regularization of concrete compression response is required to achieve accurate and mesh-objective simulation of wall failure, which often results from concrete crushing. In ATENA, regularization is a function of a user-defined deformation at compression failure, which is approximately linearly related to the energy dissipated during concrete crushing. The modeling approach was validated through comparison of simulated and observed response for a suite of planar and nonplanar concrete walls subjected to lateral and axial loading in the laboratory. Results show that strength and drift capacity can be predicted with a high level of accuracy. Using the validated numerical model, the impact of various design parameters on failure mechanism and drift capacity were investigated. Results show that walls subjected to high shear demands and/or with large length-to-thickness ratios exhibit a more brittle compression-shear failure, while walls with lower shear demands and smaller length-to-thickness ratios exhibit more ductile compression- or tension-controlled flexural failures.

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