Deformation Capacity and Performance-Based Seismic Design for Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

Deformation capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls is mainly influenced by concrete confinement at the boundaries of shear walls, axial force ratio and wall aspect ratio. In this paper, the relationship among the wall boundary transverse reinforcement characteristic value λvw, the axial force ratio n, the wall aspect ratio r and the ultimate displacement Δuw is established first. Then, the relationship between λvw −−n −−r −−Δuw is verified against the results of 71 RC shear wall experiments conducted by eight different research institutions. Based on the established relationship, the performance-based seismic design (PBSD) method for RC shear walls is proposed. According to the method presented in the paper, the amount of transverse reinforcement at wall boundaries could be determined, if the inter-storey drift demand θ and the damage index Dw are predetermined. The use of the proposed PBSD method, which may guide future RC shear wall design, is illustrated in detail by an example.