Strength and deflection prediction of double-curvature reinforced concrete squat walls

This study presents a model to better understand the shear behavior of reinforced concrete walls subjected to lateral load. The scope of the study is limited to squat walls with height to length ratios not exceeding two, deformed in a double-curvature shape. This study is based on limited knowledge of the shear behavior of low-rise shear walls subjected to double-curvature bending. In this study, the wall ultimate strength is defined as the smaller of flexural and shear strengths. The flexural strength is calculated using a strength-of-material analysis, and the shear strength is predicted according to the softened strut-and-tie model. The corresponding lateral deflection of the walls is estimated by superposition of its flexibility sources of bending, shear and slip. The calculated results of the proposed procedure correlate reasonably well with previously reported experimental results.