DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALL-FRAME SYSTEMS

In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of coupled shear wall-frame syste ms is analyzed. A continuum approach for coupled shear walls with any number of opening rows is used, accounting for shear strain effects in both solid walls and lintel beams. A finite element formulation based on hierarchical shape functions is developed for the coupled walls, a nd an assembling procedure is presented for obtaining the global mass and stiffness matrices of the wall-frame assembly. The free vibrations of coupled shear walls are studied first to test the convergence of t he proposed method, and the results obtained agree very well with theo retical and experimental results reported in the literature. Finally, the modal analysis and the response spectrum technique are used to stu dy the coupled shear wall-frame interaction for two high-rise reinforc ed concrete buildings subject to earthquake excitation. (C) 1996 Acade mic Press Limited