Shear strength and cracking behavior of reinforced concrete nonstructural walls

Abstract

Recent Japanese earthquakes have severely damaged the nonstructural walls of many buildings. While nonstructural walls do not influence the seismic performance of a building, this damage can still sometimes cause buildings to be demolished or render their continued use impossible. Therefore, it is important that seismic designs take the seismic properties of nonstructural walls into consideration. Shear loading tests and FE analysis were conducted to investigate this phenomenon, which showed that shear strength decreased and crack width increased with wider rebar spacing. The FE analysis indicated that the discrete crack model evaluated the test results more adequately than the smeared crack model. In addition, the stress distribution was localized with wider rebar spacing. Therefore, it is thought that the shear strength decreased. Finally, a simple crack width prediction method was proposed. With this method, the rebar strain was calculated using the horizontal deformation of the walls. Using this method, the crack width could be reasonably estimated. It is believed that these findings will be useful for designing nonstructural walls with improved seismic performance.

Diagnosis and Repair of the Cracking House Next to the River

“…In reinforced concrete structures, some cracks are dangerous to the building structure, and some are not harmful. The non-structural cracks do not usually risk safety, but they can be unsightly, give the impression of poor work, or give a sense of instability [25,26]. This kind of crack is caused primarily by internally induced stresses in construction materials or might result in poor craftsmanship [27,28].…”

“…Similar studies were also carried out [28] by analyzing the causes of cracks. Research [25] mentions the causes of non-structural cracks, and this damage does not harm the building. At the same time, cracks that occur in the structure will be dangerous, as research conducted [26].…”