Reinforced concrete structural walls are commonly used for resisting lateral forces in buildings. Owing to the advancements in the field of concrete materials over the past few decades, concrete mixes of high compressive strength, commonly referred to as high-strength concrete (HSC), have been developed. In this study, the effects of strategic placement of HSC on the performance of slender walls were examined. The finite-element model of a conventional normal-strength concrete (NSC) prototype wall was validated using test data available in extant studies. HSC was incorporated in the boundary elements of the wall to compare its performance with that of the conventional wall at different axial loads. Potential reductions in the reinforcement area and size of the boundary elements were investigated. The HSC wall exhibited improved strength and stiffness, and thereby, allowed reduction in the longitudinal reinforcement area and size of the boundary elements for the same strength of the conventional wall. Cold joints resulting from dissimilar concrete pours in the web and boundary elements of the HSC wall were modeled and their impact on behavior of the wall was examined.
NSC wall web and boundary elements, and HSC wall web
HSC wall boundary elements
first story
second story
third story
fourth story
all stories
tangent modulus (MPa)
22752
19305
19305
19305
57226
unconfined compressive strength (MPa)
31.6
40.5
38.8
58.3
148.9
uniaxial tensile strength (MPa)
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
3.3
crack-width parameter (mm)
1.01
1.01
1.01
1.01
0.27
Tab.1
Fig.2
Fig.3
ALR (axial load)
NSC wall
HSC wall
ratio of results of HSC to NSC wall
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength
initial stiffness
10% (400 kN)
150.8
94.0
168.1
148.4
1.11
1.57
20% (800 kN)
194.4
95.5
220.6
149.4
1.13
1.56
25% (1000 kN)
212.6
95.7
243.3
149.7
1.14
1.56
Tab.2
ALR(axial load)
cover-concrete spalling
boundary-element reinforcement yielding
NSC wall εcu = 0.0035 (A)
HSC wall εcu = 0.0030 (B)
B : A
NSC wall (C)
HSC wall (D)
D : C
10% (400 kN)
0.82%
1.28%
1.56
0.55%
0.51%
0.93
20% (800 kN)
0.73%
1.05%
1.43
0.63%
0.57%
0.90
25% (1000 kN)
0.69%
0.98%
1.42
0.66%
0.61%
0.92
Tab.3
Fig.4
Fig.5
Fig.6
Fig.7
ALR (axial load)
boundary element reinforcement layout
reinforcement ratio of HSC wall
percentage of reinforcement reduction
10% (400 kN)
2, 9.6 mm and 2, 6.4 mm pairs
0.024
28%
20% (800 kN)
1, 9.6 mm and 3, 6.4 mm pairs
0.019
41%
25% (1000 kN)
1, 9.6 mm and 3, 6.4 mm pairs
0.019
41%
Tab.4
ALR (axial load)
cover-concrete spalling
boundary-element reinforcement yielding
NSC wall εcu = 0.0035 (A)
HSC wall εcu = 0.0030 (B)
B : A
NSC wall (C)
HSC wall (D)
D : C
10% (400 kN)
0.82%
1.42%
1.73
0.55%
0.47%
0.85
20% (800 kN)
0.73%
1.10%
1.50
0.63%
0.43%
0.68
25% (1000 kN)
0.69%
1.00%
1.45
0.66%
0.46%
0.70
Tab.5
Fig.8
Fig.9
Fig.10
ALR (axial Load)
barbell-shaped NSC wall
rectangular HSC wall
ratio of results of barbell-NSC to rectangular HSC wall
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength
initial stiffness
10% (400 kN)
162.4
23.4
168.1
26.0
0.97
0.90
20% (800 kN)
215.3
23.6
220.6
26.1
0.98
0.90
25% (1000 kN)
238.9
23.6
243.3
26.2
0.98
0.90
Tab.6
Fig.11
ALR (axial load)
cover-concrete spalling
boundary-element reinforcement yielding
barbell-NSC wall εcu = 0.0035 (A)
HSC wall εcu = 0.0030 (B)
B : A
barbell-NSC wall (C)
HSC wall (D)
D : C
10% (400 kN)
1.00%
1.28%
1.28
0.53%
0.51%
0.96
20% (800 kN)
0.82%
1.05%
1.28
0.62%
0.57%
0.92
25% (1000 kN)
0.76%
0.98%
1.28
0.64%
0.61%
0.95
Tab.7
Fig.12
Fig.13
ALR
NSC wall
HSC wall
monolithic
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength(kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
peak strength (kN)
initial stiffness (kN/mm)
10%
150.8
16.5
168.1
26.0
153.9
17.6
153.0
17.4
20%
194.4
16.7
220.6
26.1
200.2
17.9
197.0
17.7
25%
212.6
16.8
243.3
26.2
222.0
18.1
216.6
17.9
Tab.8
Fig.14
ALR (axial load)
cover-concrete spalling
boundary-element reinforcement yielding
HSC wall monolithic (A)
HSC wall with cold joint (B)
B : A
HSC wall monolithic (C)
HSC wall with cold joint (D)
D : C
10% (400 kN)
1.28%
1.58%
1.23
0.51%
0.66%
1.29
20% (800 kN)
1.05%
1.43%
1.36
0.57%
0.76%
1.33
25% (1000 kN)
0.98%
1.23%
1.26
0.61%
0.82%
1.34
Tab.9
Fig.15
Fig.16
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