An Approach to Investigating the Behavior of RCC Coupling Beams

Abstract

Abstract The use of coupled shear walls has been one of the potential options as an earthquake resistant system in reinforced concrete composite high-rise buildings in recent times. Coupled shear walls consist of two shear walls connected intermittently by beams over their height. The behavior of coupled shear walls is strongly influenced by the coupling beams. When the coupled shear walls are subjected to earthquake motion, energy dissipates in the coupling beams and, depending on the design, also at the base of the shear walls. However, it is seen from past research that there is an inconsistency regarding behavior of such coupling beams, especially regarding their modeling parameters (the size of the coupling beam), evaluative parameters (plastic rotation and yield moment capacities) and their unrealistic boundary conditions. This paper aims to achieve consistency regarding the behavior of coupling beams and feasible boundary conditions using both experimental and numerical analyses.