A Modeling Approach to Simulate the Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls Using OpenSees

Abstract

Recently, many analytical models have been proposed to simulate the behavior of Reinforced Concrete (R.C.) structural walls. The highly available experimental data and the rapid development of computers computational efficiency aided to develop more sophisticated and realistic modeling techniques. However, a simple model with little computational effort will be appreciated. A force-based fiber-section element is used in this study to simulate the behavior of R.C. structural walls exposed to quasi-static cyclic lateral loading. OpenSees is used to develop the analytical models while Response-2000 software is used to extract the wall sectional shear behavior to aggregate it back into the OpenSees fiber element. It was found that the modeling approach could simulate the experimentally measured wall behavior with an acceptable degree of accuracy. Finally, modeling capabilities are assessed, and recommendations for governing factors are given for modeling R.C. structural walls using force-based element in OpenSees.