Low aspect ratio structural walls are widely used in safety-related nuclear structures. Recent studies by the authors and others have demonstrated that the seismic performance of conventional low aspect ratio walls cannot be estimated accurately using existing predictive equations or hysteretic models. The US National Science Foundation has funded a NEESR research project on low aspect ratio walls of conventional and composite construction. Tests of large-size specimens of conventional low aspect ratio walls are under way at the University at Buffalo (UB) and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) to improve predictive equations for peak shear strength of low aspect ratio walls, develop robust hysteretic models of such walls for nonlinear-response-history analysis, and update fragility functions and damage states for use with next generation tools for performance-based earthquake engineering. Numerical modeling and results of tests of three walls at UB are presented. Preliminary implications for materials standards such as ACI 349 are identified.
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