Shear response estimate for squat reinforced concrete walls via a single panel model

Squat reinforced concrete walls require enough shear strength in order to promote flexural yielding, which creates the need for designers of an accurate method for strength prediction. In many cases, especially for existing buildings, strength estimates might be insufficient when more accurate analyses are needed, such as pushover analysis. In this case, estimates of load versus displacement are required for building modeling. A model is developed that predicts the shear load versus shear deformation of squat reinforced concrete walls by means of a panel formulation. In order to provide a simple, design-oriented tool, the formulation considers the wall as a single element, which presents an average strain and stress field for the entire wall. Simple material constitutive laws for concrete and steel are used. The developed models can be divided into two categories: (i) rotating-angle and (ii) fixed-angle models. In the first case, the principal stress/strain direction rotates for each drift increment. This situation is addressed by prescribing the average normal strain of the panel. The formation of a crack, which can be interpreted as a fixed principal strain direction is imposed on the second formulation via calibration of the principal stress/strain direction obtained from the rotating-angle model at a cracking stage. Two alternatives are selected for the cracking point: fcr and 0.5fcr (post-peak). In terms of shear capacity, the model results are compared with an experimental database indicating that the fixed-angle models yield good results. The overall response (load-displacement) is also reasonable well predicted for specimens with diagonal compression failure.