Tests and Analyses of High-Strength Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls in Japan

A total of twenty one high-strength reinforced concrete shear walls were tested as a part of a five-year national research project in Japan. Concrete with compressive strength ranging from 60 MPa to 120 MPa, and reinforcing steel with grades ranging 700 MPa to 1200 MPa were used for one-quarter scale specimens. The loading conditions and the reinforcement ratios were systematically varied to observe the strength and deformation capacities attained in various failure modes, such as flexural failure and shear failure before or after yielding. This paper summarizes the test results as well as the results of other tests on high-strength reinforced concrete shear walls conducted in Japan. Design equations for flexural and shear strengths based on the resistance mechanisms are verified through evaluation of experimental data. Methods of estimating the yielding deformations and the ultimate deformation capacities at web-crushing are also discussed.