A parametric investigation on applicability of the curved shell finite element model to nonlinear response prediction of planar RC walls

Abstract

This study investigates the ability of a finite element model based on curved shell element formulation in predicting nonlinear behavior of planar RC structural walls, identifying the strengths and limitations of this modeling approach. For this purpose, a parametric validation is conducted in addition to verification of the model simulation against experimental results of several wall specimens tested in literature. The effects of variations in total length, thickness, shear-span ratio, axial load ratio, confinement, as well as the horizontal and vertical reinforcement ratios are investigated at both global and local levels. For scrutinizing the global response, lateral load versus total, flexural and shear deformation predictions are used. For local response, sensitivity of the stress and strain distributions throughout the length and height of the wall models to the parameters noted above is evaluated. The capabilities and deficiencies of the modelling approach are discussed in detail in light of the numerical versus experimental as well as parametric verifications. The model is found to be able to predict most of the experimentally observed failure mechanisms of rectangular walls including global out-of-plane instability under in-plane loading, concrete crushing at the base, diagonal tension and diagonal compression as well as sliding shear. The model is not able to represent bar buckling, bar fracture and the potential subsequent secondary failure modes such as instability of the compression boundary zone due to progressive asymmetric concrete crushing at the base. The parametric study indicated sensitivity of the model response to the variation of the parameters known to be influential on the nonlinear response of planar RC walls.

Out‐of‐plane shear‐axial failure in slender rectangular reinforced concrete walls

“…12 DIANA has been extensively used to simulate nonlinear seismic response of RC structural walls in the past, but most of these studies have been conducted using curved shell finite elements. [13][14][15][16] However, it was shown in Niroomandi 11 that traditional eight-node solid elements (HX24L) and curved shell elements (Q20SH) may not be suitable for simulating walls subjected to bi-directional loading and especially to capture a failure mode affected by the out-of-plane behaviour of the wall such as the one observed in Wall D5-6. Using eight-node solid elements may in fact lead to a different out-of-plane stiffness, strength, and failure mode.…”

“…In this study, the seismic behaviour of Wall D5‐6 was simulated using the finite element (FE) software, DIANA 12 . DIANA has been extensively used to simulate nonlinear seismic response of RC structural walls in the past, but most of these studies have been conducted using curved shell finite elements 13–16 . However, it was shown in Niroomandi 11 that traditional eight‐node solid elements (HX24L) and curved shell elements (Q20SH) may not be suitable for simulating walls subjected to bi‐directional loading and especially to capture a failure mode affected by the out‐of‐plane behaviour of the wall such as the one observed in Wall D5‐6.…”

Guest editorial: Nonlinear modelling of reinforced concrete structural walls

“…The quadrilateral four-node curved shell element (Q20SH) available in the commercial finite element analysis software DIANA ( 2011) is used in the study contributed by Dashti et al (2019). The efficiency of the element is first verified by the experimental results obtained for the benchmark specimens chosen within the Wall Institute.…”

Influence of earthquake damage and repair interventions on expected annual losses of reinforced concrete wall buildings

“…These can be used to accurately reproduce the cyclic response of shear critical members (Del Vecchio et al, 2015; Palermo, 2014; Sritharan et al, 2014). More recently, three-dimensional (3D) numerical modeling has been proposed to capture the out-of-plane instability of slender RC shear walls frequently observed in the aftermath of recent seismic events (Dashti et al, 2019; Haro et al, 2019) as well as the out-of-plane shear failure mechanism in walls subjected to bidirectional loading (Niroomandi et al, 2021). Further research has focused on the seismic loss assessment of RC shear wall buildings with emphasis on the influence of modeling approaches and contribution of different components to the total losses (Terzic et al, 2019), the use of simple seismic performance assessment procedures (Bianchi et al, 2019), and the formulation of fragility functions (Caruso et al, 2019).…”