Three-parameter kinematic theory for shear-dominated reinforced concrete walls

This paper is aimed at addressing the need for physically accurate and computationally effective models for predicting the response of shear-dominated reinforced concrete walls. The presented theory is based on a three-degree-of-freedom kinematic model for the deformation patterns in walls with aspect ratios smaller than approximately 3. In the kinematic model, the wall is divided into two parts—a rigid block and a fan of struts—by a diagonal crack. The mechanisms of shear resistance across this crack are modeled with nonlinear springs to capture the prepeak and postpeak shear behavior of the member. The base section of the wall is also modeled to account for yielding of the reinforcement and crushing of the concrete. It is shown that this approach captures well the global and local deformations measured in a test specimen with detailed instrumentation. A more comprehensive validation of the theory is performed with 34 wall tests from the literature. The obtained peak load experimental-to-predicted ratios have an average of 1.03 with a coefficient of variation of 11.6%, while these values for the drift capacity are 0.99 and 16.4%.