Strength and Drift Capacity of GFRP-Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

With the rise in constructing using FRP reinforcement, owing to corrosion problems in steel-reinforced structures, there is a need to provide guidelines for laterally loaded members. Currently, design guidelines for lateral load resistance for glass-FRP- reinforced shear walls are not available in codes. For this objective, primary guidelines for seismic design of a slender GFRP-reinforced shear wall in moderate earthquakes regions was presented. The ultimate limit state was addressed by providing strength capacity that limit ductility demand to their safe flexural displacement capacity (ductility or deformability capacity). The strength demands were derived from ground motion spectra using reduction factors that depend on both the strength and energy dissipation of the structure. Deformation capacity was derived by estimating virtual yield and maximum allowable deformations in which suggestions were made for appropriate definitions. Strength reduction factor was studied and proposed based on the carried experimental program. Definition of virtual plastic hinge for GFRP-reinforced walls was described and its length was estimated based on experimental observations and calculations.