Debonding in lap-spliced concrete shear walls reinforced with high-strength rebars

The presence of lap-splices raises concerns about reinforcement bar slippage in the connection region, which often leads to wall failure and reduces seismic performance. Moreover, high-strength reinforcement bars, known for their high resistance at low strains, are commonly used to reduce strain demand in reinforced concrete shear walls. Therefore, the combined effect of high-strength reinforcement and lap-splices significantly influences the seismic performance of shear walls. In this study, after validating the developed numerical model against reference wall tests, a total of 24 shear wall models with high-strength longitudinal reinforcement were simulated and analyzed. The models vary in longitudinal bar diameter, transverse reinforcement ratio, lap splice length, and rebar debonding. The results indicate that the presence of lap-splices in longitudinal reinforcement leads to slippage in the bond region, reducing wall ductility. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that debonding techniques can mitigate the negative effects of bar slippage, enhance wall ductility, and improve energy dissipation.