Influence of Axial Load on the Ductility of Type “C” Reinforced Concrete Walls with Longitudinal Reinforcement Variation in the Cores

Abstract

Type “C” shear walls are structural elements with a great capacity to absorb seismic forces that are commonly used in elevator boxes. The present research aims to show the effect of the axial load from 980.6 to 7844.8 KN on the ductility of the walls called (M1) and (M2), also evaluating the ductility in relation to variation of reinforcement longitudinal in the cores, for which trilinear diagrams of moment–curvature of both walls were generated. The results showed that the increase in axial load is inversely proportional to the ductility of the wall. On the other hand, the increase in axial load is directly proportional to the values of moments at each point of the moment–curvature diagram, but inversely proportional to the curvature at the points of the yield of steel and exhaustion of the maximum capacity. The increase in the amount of steel in the cores in the M1 was not optimal, since when comparing the ductility in both walls, the M1 presents less ductility because there is more steel in the traction zone.