Nonlinear cyclic behaviour of high-strength ductile RC walls: Experimental and numerical investigations

In this paper, the results of an experimental campaign carried out to investigate the effect of concrete compressive strength on the deformation capacity of RC walls are presented. Information about the test programme, along with the details of the initiation and propagation of different damage states observed during the experiments are reported. The specimens were designed according to the New Zealand Concrete Standard (NZS3101:2006) and varied in terms of concrete compressive strength and boundary zone detailing. All the tested wall specimens exhibited flexural response and underwent failure due to bar buckling followed by bar fracture, concrete crushing and development of out-of-plane instability. Comparison of the observed response of the tested specimens shows that increasing the concrete compressive strength results in improved wall deformation capacity. A delay in the local compression controlled failure modes (such as bar buckling and concrete crushing) was also observed. Furthermore, a validated finite element model capable of simulating the nonlinear response of RC walls is adopted to simulate the cyclic response of the specimens. The numerical model is found to be capable of simulating the global response of RC walls with normal-strength as well as high-strength concrete with reasonable accuracy. The global out-of-plane deformation observed in high-strength RC wall specimens is also well predicted by the numerical model.