Elasto-Plastic Analysis of Coupled Shear Walls

An elasto-plastic procedure for analysis of coupled shear walls by assuming a partial or complete collapse mechanism is presented. The complete collapse mechanism is assumed to occur when plastic hinges are formed at the supports of the coupling beams over the whole height of the wall and at the base of the walls, while the rotational ductility factory at coupling beam support has not yet been reached. The partial collapse mechanism is assumed to occur when the rotational ductility factor is reached before plastification of coupling beam ends has extended over the whole height. For solution, the continuum approach for analysis of coupled shear walls was applied. For practical applications, charts are presented for evaluation of various design parameters as functions of structure parameter by assuming an upper triangle load pattern, frequently used to simulate dynamic effects of earthquake motions.