SIMULATION OF RC WALLS SEISMIC BEHAVIOUR WITH SHELL ELEMENTS AND PARC_CL MODELLING

The structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) wall system is usually characterized by low displacement values at the damage and ultimate limit states; such systems are then quite common in industrial and power plant buildings. The paper presents for some case studies a brief review of experimental tests available in literature and non linear finite elements (NLFE) methods for pushover analysis. In particular, in the paper a multi-layered shell model based on the fixed crack approach PARC_CL (Physical Approach for Reinforced Concrete under Cyclic Loading condition) is presented. Advantages and critical aspects related to shell modelling of wall systems are highlighted by multi-level assessment; in particular by comparing NLFEA results, obtained with the proposed shell element modelling, with experimental observations, NLFEA results obtained with beam element modelling and analytical formulations prescribed by Eurocode 8 (EC8). In the paper it is demonstrated that multi-layered shell modelling can be a numerical tool for the analysis of different structural wall typologies, like ductile wall systems (coupled or uncoupled), dual systems (frame or wall equivalent) and squat or large wall systems