A Blind Prediction Test of Nonlinear Analysis Procedures for Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

A full scale slice of a 7 story reinforced concrete building was tested on the shake table at the UCSD Engelkirk Structural Research Centre in 2006. As part of the research project, a blind prediction contest was sponsored to assess the capability of currently available analysis procedures to predict the seismic response of cantilever reinforced concrete shear wall structures. This paper describes an entry based on a nonlinear finite element model, using macro elements to represent both the shear and the flexural modes of behaviour. A comparison of the predicted response with the test results showed that the analysis procedure produced reasonable predictions of deformations for the lowest and highest of the four earthquakes but under-estimated response for the two moderate earthquakes by approximately 30%. For all earthquakes, the analysis base moment was much lower than the test value. Modifications to the procedure to improve the correlation were identified and implemented but did not remedy the deficit in base moments. Detailed results of the test program revealed that the causes for this discrepancy were the contribution to overturning results of gravity columns and the flange wall, neither of which had been included in the model. When these were incorporated the average error between test and analysis results was less than 10% for all earthquakes, well within acceptable limits for a design office type of model. The correlation of tests and analysis also provided useful information on design aspects for shear walls, such as the influence of secondary components and dynamic magnification factors.