Effect of Cut-Out Openings on the Axial Strength of Concrete Walls

摘要

Old structures are frequently modified to comply with current living standards and/or legislation. Such modifications may include the addition of new windows or doors and paths for ventilation and heating systems, all of which require openings to be cut into structural walls. However, effects of the required openings are not sufficiently understood. Thus, the objective of the work reported here was to analyze openings' effects on the axial strength of large concrete wall panels. Three half-scaled walls with two opening configurations, corresponding to small and large door openings, were subjected to a uniformly distributed axial load with a small eccentricity. The results indicate that the 25 and 50% reductions in cross-sectional area of the solid wall caused by introducing the small and large openings reduced the load-carrying capacity by nearly 36 and 50%, respectively. The failure progression was captured using digital image correlation technique and the results indicated involvement of a plate mechanism rather than uniaxial behavior as adopted in current design codes. Using a simplified procedure, the load-carrying capacity was predicted using existing design models found in the research literature and design codes.