EZZELDIN, MOHAMED 1; WIEBE, LYDELL 2; SHEDID, MARWAN 3; EL-DAKHAKHNI, WAEL. 4

1) PhD student, McMaster University, Department of Civil Engineering, ezzeldms@mcmaster.ca

2) Assistant Professor, McMaster University, Department of Civil Engineering, wiebel@mcmaster.ca

3) Assistant Professor, AinShams University, Department of Civil Engineering, marwan.shedid@eng.asu.edu.eg

4) Martini, Mascarin and George Chair in Masonry Design, McMaster University, Department of civil Engineering, eldak@mcmaster.ca

Reinforced concrete block structural walls are complex structural elements composed of materials with nonlinear and heterogeneous properties, which makes the numerical investigation challenging, especially when seismic behaviour is considered. In this paper, OpenSees (Open System of Earthquake Engineering Simulation), is used to create macro models to simulate the in-plane response of such walls under cyclic loading simulating earthquake effects. The models were calibrated against the results of three experimental tests on reinforced concrete block structural walls having rectangular cross sections and subjected to in-plane lateral loads. These models are sensitive to the assumed plastic hinge length. However, this paper demonstrates that simple models can, with proper calibration, capture the cyclic response, including energy dissipation and degradation of strength and stiffness very well.

Keywords: Finite element, Nonlinear models, OpenSees, Reinforced masonry, Shear wall.