• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.227-245
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• 2013

The term "constructability" in regard to cast-in-place concrete construction refers mainly to the ease of reinforcing steel placement. Bar congestion complicates steel placement, hinders concrete placement and as a result leads to improper consolidation of concrete around bars affecting the integrity of the structure. In this paper, a multi-objective approach, based on the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is developed for optimal design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls, considering minimization of the economic cost and reinforcing bar congestion as the objective functions. The structural model to be optimized involves 35 design variables, which define the geometry, the type of concrete grades, and the reinforcement used. The seismic response of the retaining walls is investigated using the well-known Mononobe-Okabe analysis method to define the dynamic lateral earth pressure. The results obtained from numerical application of the proposed framework demonstrate its capabilities in solving the present multi-objective optimization problem.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.119-127
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• 2019

When a structural wall is subjected to multi-directional ground motion, torsion-induced cracks degrade the stiffness of the wall. The effect of torsion should not be neglected. As a main lateral load resisting member, reinforced concrete (RC) structural wall has been widely studied under the combined action of bending and shear. Unfortunately, its seismic behavior under a combined action of torsion, bending and shear is rarely studied. In this study, torsional performances of the RC structural walls under the combined action is assessed from a comprehensive parametrical study. Finite element (FE) models are built and calibrated by comparing with the available experimental data. The study is then carried out to find out the critical design parameter affecting the torsional stiffness of RC structural walls, including the axial load ratio, aspect ratio, leg-thickness ratio, eccentricity of lateral force, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and transverse reinforcement ratio. Besides, to facilitate the application in practice, an empirical equation is developed to estimate the torsional stiffness of RC rectangular structural walls conveniently, which is found to agree well with the numerical results of the developed FE models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.195-216
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• 2008

This paper presents a new hypoelasticity model which was implemented in a nonlinear finite element formulation to analyze reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The model includes a new hypoelasticity constitutive relationship utilizing the rotation of material axis through successive iterations. The model can account for high nonlinearity of the stress-strain behavior of the concrete in the pre-peak regime, the softening behavior of the concrete in the post-peak regime and the irrecoverable volume dilatation at high levels of compressive load. This research introduces the modified version of the common application orthotropic stress-strain relation developed by Darwin and Pecknold. It is endeavored not to violate the principal of "simplicity" by improvement of the "capability" The results of analyses of experimental reinforced concrete walls are presented to confirm the abilities of the proposed relationships.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1992.10a
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• pp.97-102
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• 1992

To predict the shear strength of low - rise reinforced concrete shear walls with boundary elements, truss model theory considering the Vecchio - Collins stress - strain curve for softened concrete is applied. The model transforms cracked shear walls with a truss which consists of vertical bar. horizontal bar and diagonal concrete strut, and is based on equilibrium and compatibility conditions among three truss components, as well as stress - strain relationship considered for softening in diagonal concrete strut. In barbell specimens(M/VD = 0.75. fc = 420 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$), the ratio of experimental to analytical maximum shear strength was within 0.83 ν$_{exp}$. / ν$_{cal}$. 1.25 with a relatively good agreement. As a result, the truss model was observed to be capable of predicting the maximum shear strength wi th a reasonable accuracy.acy.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2019

Reinforced Concrete (RC) shear walls are widely used in Nuclear power plants as effective lateral force resisting elements of the structure and these may experience nonlinear behavior for higher earthquake demand. Short shear walls of aspect ratio less than 1.5 generally experience combined shear flexure interaction. This paper presents the results of the displacement-controlled experiments performed on six RC short shear walls with varying aspect ratios (1, 1.25 and 1.5) for monotonic and reversed quasi-static cyclic loading. Simulation of the shear walls is then carried out by Finite element modeling and also by macro modeling considering the coupled shear and flexure behaviour. The shear response is estimated by softened truss theory using the concrete model given by Vecchio and Collins (1994) with a modification in softening part of the model and flexure response is estimated using moment curvature relationship. The accuracy of modeling is validated by comparing the simulated response with experimental one. Moreover, based on the experimental work a multi-linear hysteretic model is proposed for short shear walls. Finally ultimate load, drift, ductility, stiffness reduction and failure pattern of the shear walls are studied in details and hysteretic energy dissipation along with damage index are evaluated.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.211-222
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• 2016

Reinforced concrete shear walls with deficient reinforcement details are tested under cyclic loading. The deficiency of reinforcement details includes insufficient splice length in U-stirrups at the ends of horizontal reinforcement and boundary column dowel bars found in existing low- to mid-rise Korean buildings designed non-seismically. Three test specimens have rectangular, babel and flanged sections, respectively. Flexure- and shear-controlled models for reinforced concrete shear walls specified in ASCE/SEI 41-13 are compared with the flexural and shear components of force-displacement relation extracted separately from the top displacement of the specimen based on the displacement data measured at diverse locations. Modification of the shear wall models in ASCE/SEI 41-13 is proposed in order to account for the effect of bar slip, cracking loads in flexure and shear. The proposed modification shows better approximation of the test results compared to the original models.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.877-890
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to present adequate modeling solutions for squat and slender RC walls. ASCE41-13 (American Society of Civil Engineers) specifies that the aspect ratios of height to width for the RC walls affect the hysteresis response. Thus, this study performed non-linear analysis subjected to cyclic loading using two different macroscopic models: one of macroscopic models represents flexural failure of RC walls (Shear Wall Element model) and the other (General Wall Element model) reflects diagonal shear failure occurring in the web of RC walls. These analytical results were compared to previous experimental studies for a slender wall (> aspect ratio of 3.0) and a squat wall (= aspect ratio of 1.0). For the slender wall, the difference between the two macroscopic models was negligible, but the squat wall was significantly affected by parameters for shear behavior in the modeling method. For accurate performance evaluation of RC buildings with squat walls, it would be reasonable to use macroscopic models that give consideration to diagonal shear.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.569-579
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• 2011

Reinforced concrete walls subjected to cyclic loading show complicated inelastic behaviors varying with aspect ratio, re-bar detail, and loading condition. In the present study, a macro model for nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete walls was developed. For exact prediction of inelastic flexure-compression and shear behaviors, the macro model of the wall was idealized with longitudinal and diagonal uniaxial elements. The uniaxial elements consist of concrete and re-bars. Simplified cyclic models for concrete and re-bars under uniaxial loading was used. For verification, the proposed model was applied to slender, lowrise, and coupled walls subjected to cyclic loading. The results showed that the proposed method predicted the nonlinear behaviors of the walls with reasonable precision.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.5 s.51
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• pp.73-83
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete pier walls under cyclic out-of-plane loading and to develop improved seismic design criteria. The accuracy and objectivity of the assessment process can be enhanced by using a sophisticated nonlinear finite element analysis program. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures was used. A 4-node flat shell element with drilling rotational stiffness is used for spatial discretization. The layered approach is used to discretize the behavior of concrete and reinforcement through the thickness. Material nonlinearity is taken into account by comprising tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. The method is verified a useful tool to assess the seismic performance of reinforced concrete pier walls subjected to cyclic out-of-plane load through comparing with reliable experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.667-689
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• 2014

Structural walls (also known as shear walls) are one of the common lateral load resisting elements in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in seismic regions. The performance of RC structural walls in recent earthquakes has exposed some problems with the existing design of RC structural walls. The main issues lie around the buckling of bars, out-of plane deformation of the wall (especially the zone deteriorated in compression), reinforcement getting snapped beneath a solitary thin crack etc. This study compares performance of a typical wall designed by different standards. For this purpose, a case study RC shear wall is taken from the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Christchurch which was designed according to the 1982 version of the New Zealand concrete structures standard (NZS3101:1982). The wall is redesigned in this study to comply with the detailing requirements of three standards; ACI-318-11, NZS3101:2006 and Eurocode 8 in such a way that they provide the same flexural and shear capacity. Based on section analysis and pushover analysis, nonlinear responses of the walls are compared in terms of their lateral load capacity and curvature as well as displacement ductilities, and the effect of the code limitations on nonlinear responses of the different walls are evaluated. A parametric study is also carried out to further investigate the effect of confinement length and axial load ratio on the lateral response of shear walls.