Modelling of a RC Shear Wall Experiment Using Shell Layered Finite Elements

This paper presents the numerical modelling strategy used to recreate a shear wall experiment, in the finite element analysis software ETABS using shell layered elements. The experiment, conducted by Oh et al., subjected four different wall specimens to cyclic lateral loading to determine the effect of transversal reinforcement on their deformation capacity[1]. The experimental results, extracted from the SERIES database [2] for the WR-10 and WR-20 specimens are used as the basis for model validation. The finite element model employs a two-layer shell section, with separate reinforcement and concrete membrane layers, while the cyclic loading protocol is recreated through a series of chained nonlinear static displacement-controlled load cases. The results are compared with the experimental data, in terms of peak lateral force, cumulative energy dissipation and hysteresis loop shape.