Abstract
In this study, natural period formular is presented for a RC shear wall structure with H-, T-, and L-shaped wall sections. The natural period formular proposed by Goel and Chopra and adopted in ASCE 7-10 was modified by using the ratio of the flange and web wall area. The natural periods of structures with H-shaped wall were numerically obtained, the results indicated that the ASCE 7-10 could not consider the natural period variation according to the length of the flange wall, but the proposed formula could do. Especially, ASCE 7-10 estimated much longer periods than eigenvalue analysis, and this implies that conservative seismic design is difficult. The periods by eigenvalue analysis exist between the upper and lower bounds given by the proposed formula, and conservative design is possible by using the proposed lower bound value. In order to verity the effectiveness of the proposed method, actual residential buildings with various types of flange walls are considered. Ambient vibration tests, eigenvalue analyses, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were conducted and the periods were compared with the values by ASCE 7-10 and the proposed formula. The results showed that the proposed formula could estimate more accurately the periods than ASCE 7-10.
