Abstract
A trilinear bending moment-curvature model is proposed for the nonlinear static (pushover) analysis of concrete walls. To account for the effect of cracking on the flexural stiffness of concrete walls in a simple yet accurate way, the elastic portion of the bending moment-curvature relationship is modeled as bilinear. To account for the influence of cyclic loading on tension stiffening of cracked concrete, the concept of upper-bound response for a previously uncracked wall, and lower-bound response for a severely cracked wall is introduced. To validate the proposed model, the results of a large-scale test on a slender concrete wall are compared with predictions from the model. The application of the proposed model in a pushover analysis of a 131-m-(430-ft) high coupled-wall structure demonstrates the importance of accurately modeling the nonlinear flexural stiffness of concrete walls.