Design of RC Shear Wall Buildings at Different Performance Levels

Earthquake catastrophes continue to cause substantial damage and casualties in many parts of the world. Despite design codes and standards having succeeded in reducing life losses during earthquakes, the level of damage in buildings after severe earthquakes still cannot be precisely predicted. Code provisions focus on the safety of buildings with no consideration of the amount of damage expected after an event. Current U.S. guidelines designate three performance levels related to the inelastic rotational demands of RC shear walls - immediate occupancy, life safety, and collapse prevention. The damage corresponding to these performance levels is minor, moderate, and severe, respectively. In the current study, these performance limits were implemented, along with other recognized standards, in order to design four RC ductile shear wall buildings with different heights located in a high seismic hazard zone. Each building was designed based on Canadian building codes to reach the three designated performance levels. For each case, the quantities of the constitutive materials of the RC shear walls were estimated and compared. The impact of the targeted performance level on the building's gravity-load-resisting system was also investigated. The cost effectiveness of using moderately ductile shear walls in high seismic hazard zones was also examined.