NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE IN-PLANE BEHAVIOR OF LOW ASPECT RATIO REINFORCED CONCRETE SHEAR WALLS

摘要

An experimental study investigated the cyclic behavior of low aspect ratio reinforced concrete shear walls in the SEESL laboratory at the University at Buffalo. The testing program involved 12 shear walls with aspect ratio ranging from 0.33 to 0.94, and horizontal and vertical web reinforcement ratios ranging from 0.33% to 1.5%. A finite element model is developed in the LS-DYNA domain to simulate the nonlinear cyclic response of these walls. The model is validated using experimental data. Experimentally and numerically derived global and local responses are presented and contrasted. The measured initial stiffness of the RC walls is significantly less than the theoretical and DYNA-predicted stiffness due to the existence of fine cracks at the base of the wall caused by restrained shrinkage. The validated DYNA model is used to investigate the effect of restrained shrinkage on the initial stiffness of RC walls.