Gravity Load-Frame Deformation Effects on Shear Distribution in Concrete Shear Walls with Openings

摘要

Approximate methods neglecting the gravity load-frame deformation effects have been commonly used by structural engineers to compute the shear stress in shear walls with openings. The approximate methods, which neglected the gravity load-frame deformation effects, however, may cause significant errors in computing the shears in the exterior piers. Gravity load-frame deformation effects on a rigid frame can be defined as shear forces produced in the columns caused by the deformation of the frame when the beams of the rigid frame are carrying gravity loads. Similarly, gravity load-frame deformation effects on a wall with openings can be defined as shear forces produced in piers caused by the deformations of lintels and the piers of the wall when the lintels of the wall with openings are carrying gravity loads. In this paper, a commonly used hand-calculated approximate method neglecting the gravity load-frame deformation effects for the computation of shear forces in concrete shear walls with openings will be exhibited. The objective of this paper is to propose a simplified approach that will take the gravity load-frame deformation effects into consideration to improve the accuracy in computing the shear distribution in concrete walls with openings.