Inelastic modeling of RC structural walls

The principal objective of this study is to analytically evaluate the seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls. This objective was achieved through experimental and analytical investigations. The analytical study involved evaluation of the inelastic dynamic response of RC nonductile structural walls as well as retrofitted walls. An efficient macroscopic model to represent the behaviour of RC structural walls when subjected to pushover, cyclic and dynamic seismic loads was developed. The proposed model was intended to adequately describe the hysteretic behaviour of walls and to be capable of accurately predicting both flexural and shear components of inelastic deformation. The model predictions were compared with the experimental results. The comparisons showed that the developed analytical model predicted the inelastic walls response with a good accuracy. The analytical model was capable of representing the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of RC structural walls under seismic excitation.