Seismic Response of R/C Frame‐Wall Structures

Abstract

Results are summarized of analytical and experimental studies conducted on physical and analytical models of a 15‐story reinforced concrete framecoupled wall structure which was identified as typical of medium‐rise office construction in the western United States and designed in accordance with provisions of the 1973 version of the Uniform Building Code. The primary objectives are to evaluate whether or not: (1) The state‐of‐the‐practice leads to a design that accords with the criteria envisioned by seismic design documents; and (2) the state‐of‐the‐art of analysis of reinforced concrete frame‐wall structures provides reliable analytical assessments of the seismic behavior of structures. The results indicate that designs based on the Uniform Building Code provisions may in several important ways be inadequate and that analytical techniques currently used to evaluate such designs similarly suffer from shortcomings.