On estimating the drift capacity of reinforced concrete walls with lap splices at their bases

Failures in reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls have been reported to occur at longitudinal lap splices in earthquakes as far back as 1964 (Kunze et al. in JP 62:635–650, 1965) and as recently as 2023 (Pujol et al. in ES 63:777, 2024). Design codes such as ACI318-19 (2019) and JSCE Standard Specification for Concrete Structures (2007) have been adjusted accordingly and have banned the placement of lap splices near sections where longitudinal reinforcement is expected to yield in reinforced concrete structural walls. But minimizing lap splice vulnerabilities in new construction does not address existing buildings that may be vulnerable to earthquakes because of lap splices placed at or near critical sections. A simple, rapid assessment technique should be adopted to address the large number of existing buildings with potentially vulnerable RC walls. To investigate the deformation capacity of structural walls with lap splices near sections where longitudinal reinforcement yields, a two-part experimental program is ongoing: four large-scale walls with non-staggered lap splices were tested at Purdue University (Pollalis Drift capacity of reinforced concrete walls with lap splices, Purdue University: West Lafayette, 2021) and two large-scale walls with staggered lap splices have been tested at the University of Canterbury (Kerby et al. Experimental study of staggered lap splices in RC structural walls, 2023). Results from these six tests are added to a dataset of 15 previous tests of walls with non-staggered lap splices compiled by Almeida et al. (JSE 143:853, 2017). A method to estimate drift capacity of walls with lap splices is proposed based on estimates of lap splice strength, steel stress–strain relationships, and moment-area theorems. Two sets of assumptions can be used to produce estimates of drift capacity. The first set of assumptions applies when detailed information of reinforcement stress–strain relationships is available, and the second set of assumptions applies when reinforcement stress–strain relationships must be assumed. Both sets of assumptions produce reasonable estimates of the drift capacity of walls with lap splices, and the second set of assumptions can be used for rapid assessment given minimal information about the detailing and material properties of a wall.