ATC & SEI 2015 36

Nonlinear Analysis of Squat RC Walls Using Three-Dimensional Continuum

Finite Element Models

J. Murcia-Delso1; R. S. Dunham2; D. R. Parker3; and R. J. James4

1
Tecnalia, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Edificio 700, Derio 48160,
Spain. E-mail: juan.murcia@tecnalia.com
2
ANATECH Corp., 5435 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121. E-mail:
bob.dunham@anatech.com
3
ANATECH Corp., 5435 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121. E-mail:
dan.parker@anatech.com
4
ANATECH Corp., 5435 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121. E-mail:
randy.james@anatech.com

Abstract

This paper presents the three-dimensional finite element analysis of squat RC walls
using a continuum constitutive model for concrete developed at ANATECH. The
concrete model is based on the smeared-cracking concept and an elastic-plastic
formulation that permits the simulation of cracking and other particular response
characteristics of concrete. The laws governing the normal and tangential stresses on
a crack are suitable for the simulation of shear failures and crack closing and re-
opening under load reversals. Finite element models have been developed to
reproduce experiments on squat walls found in the literature. These tests were
conducted on walls with rectangular and non-rectangular sections subjected to cyclic
lateral loading. The finite element models provide a good representation of the
nonlinear response and shear failure of these walls. Results of a blind simulation of a
five-story shear wall building tested on a shake-table, in which a diagonal shear
failure was well predicted, are also presented.

INTRODUCTION

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are commonly used as lateral-force resisting
systems in buildings. RC walls can have a flexural-dominated or shear-dominated
behavior depending on their aspect ratio, axial load, and reinforcement
characteristics. Squat walls with low aspect ratio (height-to-length ratio less than 2),
high axial loads, and heavily reinforced in flexure tend to behave in shear. These
walls may experience diagonal tension failure when there is not sufficient horizontal
shear reinforcement. When adequately reinforced to constraint the opening of
diagonal cracks, failure may occur by crushing of the concrete due to diagonal

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compression forces or sliding shear. Even though ductile design principles and
practices are intended to ensure flexural behavior of these elements, it is difficult to
preclude the shear-dominated behavior of squat walls in short buildings and squat
wall segments in taller buildings for walls with strong coupling effects or openings. In
addition, existing buildings constructed before ductile design practices were
implemented are likely to have shear-critical walls.

Performance-based seismic design and assessment of buildings relies on the use of

analytical models that can accurately predict their structural response. Modeling the
nonlinear behavior of squat walls is a challenging task because of their shear-
dominated behavior. Diagonal and sliding shear-resisting mechanisms in RC walls
are commonly represented by approximate phenomenological models derived from
experimental data. For example, ASCE 41-13 (ASCE 2013) provides lateral force –
deformation backbone curves for shear-critical wall segments and coupling beams.
However, these curves have been calibrated with limited test data. The use of high-
fidelity finite element models that capture the mechanics of shear failures in RC
structures are a versatile and more realistic alternative to phenomenological models.
They are also an inexpensive complement to the laboratory tests allowed by ASCE 41
to derive case-specific backbone curves for the application of this standard.

This paper presents the three-dimensional nonlinear analysis of RC shear walls using
an advanced constitutive model for concrete developed at ANATECH. The salient
features of the constitutive model and the results of finite element analyses of
laboratory tests on RC walls are presented. The tests analyzed include rectangular and
non-rectangular walls subjected to quasi-static cyclic loading which failed in shear,
and a five-story shear wall building tested on a shake-table.

CONCRETE CONSTITUTIVE MODEL

The behavior of concrete is highly nonlinear with small tensile strengths, shear
stiffness and strength that depend on crack widths, and compressive capacity
degradation after the compressive strength is reached. Modeling concrete, especially
under conditions where extensive damage can develop, requires advanced and
detailed constitutive models. In response to this need, ANATECH has developed and
refined over the past decades a constitutive model that is based on the pioneering
work on smeared-crack models by Rashid (1968). This concrete model has been
extensively used to predict the nonlinear behavior of RC structures in nuclear
facilities and critical civil infrastructure, and has been validated with data from large-
scale tests (e.g., Rashid et al. 2001). The main features of the constitutive model are
presented in the following.

In compression, concrete has an elastic-plastic behavior. The uniaxial stress-strain

behavior obtained from material test data is generalized to multi-axial behavior with
an isotropic-hardening plasticity formulation, using a Drucker-Prager surface to
represent the yield condition. A non-associated plastic flow rule is defined to control

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the plastic dilattation of con

ncrete. This formulationn is well suitted for low tto moderate
connfinement sttress levels, which typiifies the behhavior of ciivil structurres. Typical
uniaxial stress--strain curvees for concreete under m monotonic coompression sshow linear
behhavior up to about 50% of o its uniaxiaal compressiive strength.. For stressess above this
leveel, the mateerial exhibitts strain harrdening untiil it reachess its ultimatte strength.
Wh hen the com mpressive strains
s are increased ffurther, dam mage due tto crushing
conntinues to acccumulate, thus
t causingg rapid strainn softening. Figure 1(a)) shows the
straain hardeningg and softenning behavior of the moddel for unconnfined uniaxxial loading.
Forr cyclic load
ding, nonlineear unloadin ng and reloadding paths aare defined tto represent
the actual hysteeretic responnse of the maaterial, as shoown in Figuure 1(b).

(a) mo
onotonic load
ding (b) cycllic loading
Figure 1. Uniaxia
al Compresssion Behaviior

In tension, craacking is treeated at thee element inntegration ppoints using a smeared

craccking appro oach. Crackss are assumed to form perpendicullar to the diirections off
larggest tensile strains
s that exceed
e the cracking
c critterion. Multiple cracks aare allowed
to form,
f but theey are consttrained to bee mutually orrthogonal. OOnce a crackk forms, the
norrmal stress iss reduced with
w the crack k opening, aas shown in Figure 2(a)). The shear
stifffness and sttress on the crack surfacce are also rreduced upoon cracking and further
deccay as the craack opens. Once
O a crack
k forms, the ddirection of the crack rem
mains fixed
andd can never heal. Howeever, a cracck can closee, resist com mpression, aand re-open
und der load reveersals.

Thee cracking crriterion used

d in the mod ated in Figuree 2(b). Cracking occurs
del is illustrat
wheen the statee defined by y the maxim mum princiipal strain aand stress eexceeds the
diag gonal criterrion line. Cracking
C of biaxial andd triaxial sttress states are treated
connsistently wiith the uniax xial crackinng criteria, bbut they occcur at a sligghtly higher
streess and sligh
htly lower sttrain. Split crracking occuurs at near zzero stress aand a tensile
straain approximmately twice that of uniaaxial tensile ccracking. Thhis agrees w well with the
obsserved behav vior of concrrete test speccimens.

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(a) uniax
xial tension behavior (b) crack innitiation critterion
Figure 2. Cracking
C Beehavior

An important modeling
m co
onsideration for crackedd concrete iss the treatmeent of shear
streesses across cracks. Thee shear resisstance can bbe significanntly reducedd as a crack
opeens, but can beb recovered d once the crrack closes. Capturing thhis behaviorr is essential
for the analysiis of shear-d dominated walls.
w The ssurfaces of cracks in cconcrete are
usuually rough and irregullar. When a shear forcce is applied along a ccrack, both
tanggential shear sliding and normaal displacem ments resullt. When tthe normal
dispplacement iss restrained by
b reinforcin ng bars crosssing the craack, tensile sstresses will
devvelop in the reinforcemeent, which will
w then induuce compresssive stressess across the
cracck. The resiistance to sliding is proovided by thhe frictional force generrated by the
commpressive stress across the crack. In n order to ttake the sheaar stiffness of concrete
intoo account inn the model, a reduced shear moduulus is retainned in the sstress-strain
mattrix. Al-Mah haidi (1979) suggests a hyperbolic
h vvariation of tthe shear moodulus with
the strain normmal to the craack, and a vaariation of thhis is used inn the concrette model, as
illu
ustrated in Fiigure 3.

Figure 3.. Modeling of Interfacee Shear Traansfer

In addition,
a thee model is eq
quipped with a shear shhedding featuure to limit the buildup
of shear stress across an n open cracck. The shhear retentioon model rreduces the

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incrremental sh hear modulu us across an

n open crackk as discusssed earlier. The shear
streesses that caan be accommmodated accross an op en crack alsso reduce aas the crack
conntinues to op pen. Since cracks
c m in the prinncipal strainn directions there is, in
form
genneral, no sheear across a crack
c when it first openns. Figure 4 illustrates thhe behavior
of shear
s stress capacity in cracked con
ncrete for a tight crackk, for exampple cracking
welll controlled by reinforceement, comppared to a cr ack that conntinues to open.

Figure 4. Illusstration of Shear

S Capaacity for Open Cracks

FIN
NITE ELEM
MENT ANA
ALYSIS OF RC SHEAR
R WALLS

Thee capability of the conccrete model presented inn this paperr to predict the seismic
beh
havior of sh hear-dominatted RC wallls has beenn verified w with experim mental data
obtained from select tests conducted
c by
b Hidalgo eet al. (2002)), Orakcal ett al. (2009),
and
d Palermo an nd Vecchio (2002) on sq quat wall coomponents ssubjected to quasi-static
cycclic lateral loading.
l FE models of these tests have been developed in Abaqus
(Daassault Systeemes 2014) with
w the con ncrete modell implementeed in a user subroutine.
Steel reinforcem ment has beeen modeled d with a coonstitutive m
model that aaccounts for
elasstic-plastic behavior
b of steel
s and bon
nd-slip behavvior. The cooncrete and ssteel models
hav
ve been calib brated to th
he material strength
s dataa reported in the tests. The model
parrameters indeependent of the material strength havve been keptt constant.

Hiddalgo et al. (2002) tested

d full-scale squat
s wall seegments withh the rotation of the top
andd bottom ends restrained d. These tessts providedd fundamenttal data on tthe strength
deteerioration and
a deformaation capacitty of shear--dominated rectangularr walls that
havve been used d to developp the force-d displacementnt relations oof ASCE 41-13 (ASCE
20113, Elwood et e al. 2007). The effectiv ve aspect rattio (ratio of shear span tto depth) off
the test specimmens varied between 0.3 35 and 1.000. All the w walls experieenced shear
faillures caused by severe diagonal
d craccking. The FFE analysis rresults of Sppecimens 23
andd 24 as identified by Hiddalgo et al. (2
2002) are preesented in F Figure 5. Botth walls had
bouundary reinfforcement to o preclude flexural
f failuure. In addittion, Specim
men 23 had
disttributed horrizontal reinnforcement, and Speciimen 24 haad distributted vertical
reinnforcement.

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(a) lateral force vs. dissplacement for

fo ((b) lateral forrce vs. displlacement forr
Specimen 23 2 S
Specimen 244

(cc) maximum m principal sttrains at the peak

p ((d) maximum m principal sstrains at thee
displacement of Sppecimen 23 peak displaccement of Sppecimen 24
Figurre 5. Analyssis of shear walls
w tested
d by Hidalgoo et al. (20022)

As shown in Fiigure 5(a), th he analysis results

r matcch very well the force-diisplacement
relaations obtained experim mentally for Specimenn 23, includding the laateral force
cappacity and deeterioration. The model is able to caapture the seevere pinchinng behavior
obsserved in thee tests, whicch is caused by the openning and cloosing of diagonal shear
craccks. The disstributed horizontal steeel reinforcem ment in Speecimen 23 restrains the
opeening of thee crack and d contributes to maintaaining the sshear resistaance of the
conncrete acrosss the crack. For this reeason, there is no abruppt decay off the lateral
cappacity of thee wall. As shown in FigureF 5(b), Specimen 224 has a loower lateral
streength and a more brittle behavior th han Specimeen 23. This iis due to thee absence off
horrizontal sheaar reinforcemment. The mo odel is capab
able of prediccting this tenndency, but
it underestimate
u es the load deterioration
d n rate. Figuree 5 also show ws the deforrmed shapes
andd contour plo ots with the maximum
m principal straains in the cooncrete at thee maximum
lateeral displaceement experiienced by th he test specim mens. The ddiagonal bannds of large
straains observed in the plo ots indicate the
t opening of a major diagonal crrack in both
speecimens, whiich is consisttent with thee damage repported in Hidalgo et al. ((2002). The
largge distortion
n observed in n the elemennts in the corrner regions in Figure 5((c) indicates
thatt there is also
a some concrete
c cru
ushing and shear slidinng in the w wall toes off
Speecimen 23.

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Oraakcal et al. (2009)

( conduucted an exp perimental pprogram to sttudy the sheear strength,
stifffness, and deformation n capacity of pier andd spandrelss in lightly reinforced
perrimeter wallss with open nings, which h are commoonly found in mid-1900s building
connstruction. The
T tests werre conducted d on pier annd spandrel specimens ddesigned to
represent as-bu uilt condition
ns of two existing
e hosppital buildinngs in Califoornia. They
werre subjected to lateral cy yclic loadingg and had thhe rotation of the top andd bottom off
the walls restraained. FE mo odels of two of the tests,, namely Tesst 1 (spandreel) and Test
6 (p pier) as iden
ntified Orakccal et al. (20009), have bbeen developped. The anaalytical and
expperimental laateral load-vs.-displacem ment curves ppresented inn Figure 6 shhow that the
FE models again providee a good esstimate of tthe cyclic llateral respoonse of the
speecimens. How gth deterioraation in Test 1 is underestimated by
wever, the raate of streng
the FE model. The T failure ofo the specim mens in the m models is caaused by majjor diagonal
craccks in the wall
w segmentt, as depicteed from the distribution of maximum m principal
straains shown in n Figure 6. These
T resultss are consisttent with thee diagonal shhear failures
reported in Oraakcal et al. (22009) for theese specimenns.

(a)) lateral force vs. displaccement for (b) lateraal force vs. ddisplacementt for Test
Test 1 6

(c)) maximum principal

p straains at the (d) maxiimum princiipal strains aat the peak
peak displacement of Test
T 1 displacemeent of Test 6
Fig
gure 6. Anallysis of pierr and spandrel specimeens tested byy Orakcal ett al. (2009)

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Palermo and Vecchio

V (20002) tested tw
wo large-scaale shear waalls with flaanges under
quaasi-static lateeral loading
g. Each speccimen consissted of a weeb wall withh an aspect
ratiio of 0.66 annd two widee flanged waalls at its ennds, as well as stiff slabs at the top
andd bottom of the walls. Horizontal
H annd vertical lloads were aapplied on thhe top slab,
andd the bottomm slab was fixed
f to the strong floorr. The geommetry and reiinforcement
connfiguration of
o the two sp pecimens weere identicall. One of thee specimenss, DP1, was
sub
bjected to a constant axiial load during the test.. No axial looad was appplied in the
other specimen n, DP2. Th he analyticaal and expeerimental reesults of thhe tests are
presented in Fig gure 7.

(a)) lateral forcce vs. displaccement for DP1

D (b) lateral forcee vs. displaceement for
DP2

(cc) maximum principal strrains of DP1

1 at (d) m
minimum prinncipal strainns of DP1 at
8 mm drift 14 mm drift
Fiigure 7. Ana
alysis of flan
nged shear walls
w d by Palermo and Vecch
tested hio (2002)

Thee behavior ofo the walls is

i very brittlee as depictedd from Figurre 7(a) and F
Figure 7(b).
As shown, thee stiffness, peakp strengtth, strength deterioratioon, and unloading and
oading patteerns are welll predicted in
relo i the analyyses. The disstribution off maximum
prinncipal strain
ns plotted in
n Figure 7(c) indicates tthat a diagoonal crack foorms in the
DP1 model at a drift of 8 mmm when thee lateral loadd resistance sstarts to dropp. However,
the flanges resttrict the cracck from opeening near thhe web toess and precludde diagonal
tension failure.. Palermo and
a Vecchio (2002) repported that tthe failure oof both test
speecimens was caused by the t extensiv ve crushing oof the concrrete along a widespread
region of the web.
w As show wn in the diistribution oof minimum principal sttrains at the

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maxximum driftt in Figure 7 (d), there is

i a band of elements suubjected to ssevere large
commpressive strrains in the middle of the
t web walll indicating that a crushhing failure
also
o occurs in th mage patternn is observedd in the DP2 model.
he model. A similar dam

Thee concrete model

m presennted in this paper
p was aalso employeed in a blindd prediction
connducted at ANATECH
A by
b Dowel an nd Zhang (19998) of a shhake-table test on a 1/3-
scale 6-floor RC buildin ng as part of the C CAMUS Intternational Benchmark
(Coommissariat a l’Energie Atomique 1997).1 The bbuilding consisted of twoo cantilever
sheear walls connnected by flloors at eachh level. As ppart of the bllind predictioon exercise,
nonnlinear staticc pushover and dynamic time-historyy analyses w were conductted. The FE
model provideed a good estimation
e of
o the top ddisplacemennts, and thee shear and
oveerturning mo oment at the base of the building.
b It aalso predicteed the failure caused by
the diagonal sh hear crack failure
f betwween the seccond and thhird floor, as shown in
Fig
gure 8. This type
t of failu
ure was induuced by the ttermination oof reinforcem ment at this
floo
or.

Figure 8.
8 Analysis of
o CAMUS benchmark
k test

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CONCLUSION

Performance-based analysis of shear-dominated RC walls often relies on

phenomenological models derived from limited experimental data. High-fidelity
mechanics-based finite element models can be a more versatile alternative to predict
the behavior of these walls. They can also be used as a support for the calibration of
phenomenological models.

A three-dimensional constitutive model for concrete capable of predicting the shear

behavior of RC walls has been presented in this paper. The model uses a smeared-
cracking approach, and includes shear retention and shear shedding capabilities that
allow a correct characterization of shear stresses across cracks. Nonlinear finite
element analyses using this model have predicted with reasonably good accuracy the
lateral strength, stiffness, deformation capacity, and hysteretic energy dissipation
capacity of squat walls tested under cyclic loading. The models have also reproduced
the shear failures observed in the tests, which included diagonal cracking and
concrete crushing.

REFERENCES

Al-Mahaidi, R.S.H. (1979), Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced

Concrete Deep Members, Rep 79-1, Cornell University, Structural
Engineering Department.
ASCE (2013), Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings (ASCE 41-
13), Reston, Virginia.
Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique (1997), Mock-up and Loading
Characteristic Specifications for the Participants Report, Report 1,
CAMUS International Benchmark, France.
Dassault Systemes. (2014), Abaqus Version 6.14, Providence, RI.
Dowel, R.K., Zhang, L. (1998), Prediction Analysis of a 1/3-Scale Reinforced
Building, Report to CAMUS International Benchmark, ANATECH
Report ANA-98-0234.
Elwood, K.J., Matamoros, A.B., Wallace, J.W., Lehman, D.E., Heintz, J.A.,
Mitchell, A.D., Moore, M.A., Valley, M.T., Lowes, L.N., Comartin,
C.D., Moehle, J.P. (2007), “Update to ASCE/SEI 41 Concrete
Provisions,” Earthquake Spectra, 23 (3), 493-523.
Hidalgo, P.A., Ledezma, C.A., and Jordan, R.M. (2002), “Seismic Behavior of
Squat Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls.” Earthquake Spectra, 18 (2),
287-308.
Orakcal, K., Massone, L.M., Wallace, J.W. (2009), “Shear Strength of Lightly
Reinforced Wall Piers and Spandrels.” ACI Structural Journal, 106 (4),
455-465.
Palermo, D., Vecchio, F.J. (2002), “Behavior of Three-Dimensional Reinforced
Concrete Shear Walls.” ACI Structural Journal, 99 (1), 81-89.

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Rashid, Y.R. (1968), “Ultimate Strength Analysis of Prestressed Concrete

Pressure Vessels,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, 7, pp. 334-344.
Rashid, J.Y.R., Dameron, R.A., Dunham, R.S. (2001), “Finite Element Analysis
of Reinforced Concrete in Bridge Seismic Design Practice,” Modeling of
Inelastic Behavior of RC Structures Under Seismic Loads, edited by P.
Benson Shing and Tada-aki Tanabe, ASCE, 217-233.

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