Dynamic analysis of coupled shear wall-frame systems

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of coupled shear wall-frame systems is analyzed. A continuum approach for coupled shear walls with any number of opening rows is used, accounting for shear strain effects in both solid walls and lintel beams. A finite element formulation based on hierarchical shape functions is developed for the coupled walls, and an assembling procedure is presented for obtaining the global mass and stiffness matrices of the wall-frame assembly. The free vibrations of coupled shear walls are studied first to test the convergence of the proposed method, and the results obtained agree very well with theoretical and experimental results reported in the literature. Finally, the modal analysis and the response spectrum technique are used to study the coupled shear wall-frame interaction for two high-rise reinforced concrete buildings subject to earthquake excitation