Approximate Analysis for Shear Force Amplification Effect in Ordinary RC Shear Walls

An approximate analysis method is proposed to predict the dynamic amplification of shear forces in ordinary reinforced concrete shear walls as a preliminary study. First, a seismic design for three groups of ordinary reinforced concrete shear walls higher than 60 m was created on the basis of nonlinear dynamic analysis. Causes for the dynamic amplification effect of shear forces were investigated through a detailed evaluation of the nonlinear dynamic analysis result. A new modal combination rule was proposed on the basis of that observation, in which fundamental mode response and combined higher mode response were summed directly. The fundamental mode response was approximated by nonlinear static analysis result, while higher mode response was computed using response spectrum analysis for equivalent linear structural models with the effective stiffness based on the nonlinear dynamic analysis result. The proposed approximate analysis generally predicted vertical distribution of story shear and shear forces of individual walls from the nonlinear dynamic analysis with comparable accuracy.