Sensitivity of the seismic response of reinforced concrete masonry walls with boundary elements to design parameters

The seismic design of concrete masonry structures with reinforced masonry shear walls with boundary elements (RMSW+BEs) depends on the wall design parameters. This paper aims to investigate the sensitivity of the nonlinear seismic response of RMSW+BEs to critical design parameters such as the wall geometry and the material properties to optimize the seismic design of RMSW+BEs. In this study, the influence of eight design parameters on the seismic performance of RMSW+BEs was investigated. The studied parameters were wall aspect ratio, axial compressive stress, masonry boundary element (MBE) size, wall length, masonry compressive strength, masonry compressive strain at peak stress, masonry modulus of elasticity, and vertical reinforcement ratio of the boundary elements. These combinations yielded valuable data accumulated from the nonlinear behavior of one hundred thirty-five (135) RMSW+BEs. The results showed that as the wall aspect ratio and axial compressive stress increased, the displacement ductility decreased significantly. In addition, increasing the boundary element size and wall length increased the wall lateral ultimate capacity and displacement ductility. The lateral yield capacity, ultimate capacity, and effective stiffness of the walls were found to be highly sensitive to changes in the vertical reinforcement ratio of the boundary elements. The displacement ductility was highly sensitive to uncertainties in the masonry compressive strain at peak stress. This study elucidates some of the most critical design parameters influencing the seismic response of RMSW+BEs.