Elastic and Inelastic Wide-Column Models for RC Non-Rectangular Walls

Abstract eng:
Wide-column models (WCM) are frequently used in the seismic analysis of non-rectangular reinforced concrete (RC) walls which respond in the inelastic range. Guidelines in the literature on the application of WCMs to non-rectangular walls are almost exclusively based on studies of elastic systems which shear deformations are relatively small when compared to flexural deformations. From own large-scale quasi-static cyclic tests of U-shaped RC walls it was found that depending on the direction of loading the shear displacement constitute a significant part to the total displacements. This paper shows that if the existing modeling recommendations for WCMs are extended to either elastic or inelastic systems with relatively large shear flexibilities, the stiffness of the system is overestimated. New modeling recommendations, in particular for the properties of the horizontal links in WCMs are formulated. Analysis results of WCMs with revised properties are compared against results obtained from analysis of elastic shell models, inelastic macro elements and experimental evidence.

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