Special Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

The design and detailing requirements for special reinforced concrete shear walls have undergone significant changes from aci 318 11 to aci 318 14.

Special reinforced concrete shear walls.

Figure 1 reinforced concrete shear wall geometry and loading. Special reinforced concrete structural walls are walls that have been proportioned and detailed to meet special code requirements for resisting combinations of shear moment and axial force. Shear wall section and assumed reinforcement is investigated after analysis to verify suitability for the applied loads. Shear wall section and assumed reinforcement is investigated after analysis to verify suitability for the applied loads.

The changes are a result of the unsatisfactory performance of many shear walls in the chile earthquake of 2010 and the christchurch new zealand earthquake of 2011. A structural reinforced concrete shear wall in a 5 story building provides lateral and gravity load resistance for the applied load as shown in the figure below. In reinforced concrete buildings the vertical elements are usually either moment resisting frames or structural walls sometimes referred to as shear walls. C 0 80 for hw.

The requirements of this section apply to special reinforced concrete structural walls serving as part of the earthquake force resisting system. When the primary function of structural walls is to resist in plane loads conveyed from diaphragms down to the foundation they are generally referred to as shear walls. A structural reinforced concrete shear wall in a 5 story building provides lateral and gravity load resistance for the applied load as shown in the figure below.