A practical multi-cross-line model for simulating nonlinear cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete shear wall in super high-rise buildings

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are one of the most important components in tall buildings for resisting wind or earthquake loads. However it remains a challenging task to develop a model that can efficiently and accurately simulate the complicated nonlinear cyclic behaviors that the RC shear wall exhibits, and satisfactorily meet the requirement of the numerical stability for nonlinear dynamic analysis of super high-rise buildings. In this background, the paper presents a novel practical shear wall material model, namely, the multi-cross-line model (MCLM). The MCLM combines the advantages of accuracy in the existing micro models and the numerical stability of the macro models, therefore providing a practically ideal solution for such challenging problems. The newly developed MCLM has been implemented into a general finite element software platform, OpenSees. The model has been validated by using a RC shear wall specimens tested in laboratory and a realistic 32-story high-rise RC frame-shear wall building under cyclic loading conditions. The MCLM can accurately simulate the experimental results, simulating the main features of the stiffness reduction, strength deterioration and pinch effects. In addition, the Newton-Raphson (NR) process using MCLM converges systematically, demonstrating the good numerical stability of this model. The MCLM provides a practically important simulation tool for nonlinear analysis of realistic high-rise buildings.