Title: Slab Coupling of Earthquake-Resisting Shearwalls

Author(s): T. Paulay and R. G. Taylor

Publication: Journal Proceedings

Volume: 78

Issue: 2

Appears on pages(s): 130-140

Keywords: apartment buildings; beams (supports); concrete slabs; cyclic loads; ductility; earthquake resistant structures; failure; multistory buildings; reinforced concrete; shearwells; stiffness; structural design; tests.

DOI: 10.14359/6931

Date: 3/1/1981

Abstract:
The behavior of reinforced concrete coupled shearwalls, which are expected to provide both primary strength and ductility for hysteretic damping in earthquake-resisting mutistory buidings, is briefly reviewed. Previous experimental findings with respect to the failure modes of beam coupling in shearwalls and their design, are summarized. After a brief review of design aspects relevant to the slab coupling of shearwalls, commonly used in apartment houses, a detailed account of an experimental study is given. Various arrangenments of longitudinal and transverse slab reinforcement, the use of embedded transverse structural steel beams, and the composite action of a longitudinal beam with the slab were studied in four specimens. These were subjected to reversed cyclic loading, consistent with coupling action, with increasing imposed inelastic deformations. The effective width of the slabs generally used to determine stiffness was found to be a small fraction *of the values predicted from previous theoretical or model studies. Stiffness and strength degradation of the specially reinforced slab coupling during simulated seismic loading were found to be very large. Observations indicate that it is doubtful whether slab coupling could be used as the primary source of energy dissipation in earthquake-resisting ductile, coupled shearwalls.