Quasi-static cyclic tests of two U-shaped RC walls under diagonal loading

Reinforced concrete core walls are often used to provide horizontal stiffness and strength to mid- or high-rise buildings. The design practice is, however, largely based on findings from tests and analysis of rectangular walls subjected to uni-directional loading. Two quasi-static cyclic tests on U-shaped walls were conducted in which the walls were loaded in the diagonal direction. These tests highlight that the diagonal loading direction is critical for the following reasons: (1) The strain gradient across the wall width promotes out-of-plane buckling of the boundary elements in the flange ends; (2) Plane section analysis does not yield reliable moment capacity estimates for the diagonal loading direction and (3) Under diagonal loading the compression depth in the flange end boundary elements is larger than for the other loading directions, exposing unconfined concrete to large compressive strains. The test data comprises conventional and optical measurements as well as results of material tests and photos documenting the damage of the test specimens.<br><br><i>Note: If you use the any of the data or the photos please reference the following article: Constantin R, Beyer K (2016) Behaviour of U-shaped RC walls under quasi-static cyclic diagonal loading. Engineering Structures, 106(1):36-52.</i><br><br>