An Estimate of the Yield Displacement of Coupled Walls for Seismic Design

Abstract

A formula to estimate the yield displacement observed in the pushover analysis of coupled wall lateral force-resisting systems is presented. The estimate is based on the results of an analytical study of coupled walls ranging from 8 to 20 stories in height, with varied amounts of reinforcement in the reinforced concrete coupling beams and walls, subjected to first-mode pushover analysis. An example illustrates the application of these estimates to the performance-based seismic design of coupled walls.