Effect of Shape and Size of Openings in Shear Walls on Lateral Deformations in Shear Walled Framed Structures

Due to the high density of occupancy of multi-storey structures, structural safety becomes of utmost importance. Shear walls are structural walls which assist the framed structure in resisting lateral forces due to wind and earthquake. Providing the shear walls in multi-storeyed buildings decrease the necessity of providing heavier frames thereby increasing the floor area available in the structure. Generally, openings are provided in shear walls for architectural and functional requirements of the building structure. It is well known that providing openings in shear walls significantly decrease its stiffness and tension/Compression coupling mechanism. Codes of various origins restrict the percentage of openings in shear walls, however, remain silent about the shape of opening. The Finite element analysis has become an essential method of analysis for incorporating the physical entities mathematically. This paper aims to numerically investigate the effect of opening shape and opening size on lateral deformations of a multi-storeyed framed structure. To this end various shapes of openings i.e. triangular, square, and circular are incorporated in the shear wall and for each opening shape 20% and 25% openings have been considered. A ten-storey building containing the shear walls of various configurations has been analysed using the SAP2000 under the seismic load condition and the maximum lateral deformation produced at top storey of buildings are compared.