Load capacity of slender reinforced concrete walls governed by flexural cracking strength of concrete

This paper demonstrates, using experimental results and theoretical derivat ions, that some reinforced concrete walls may be able to carry much higher loads if the flexural cracking strength is considered in the calculation. T he paper presents a theoretical derivation of a formula for estimating the axial load capacities of reinforced concrete walls subjected to eccentric a xial loads as well as uniform lateral loads. A simplified, approximate vers ion of the formula is also presented. The formula is based on the assumptio n that the failure of the walls is controlled by the flexural cracking stre ngth of concrete. The paper also describes an experimental programme and re ports test results for four reinforced concrete walls with varying amounts of reinforcements of varying type, namely, mesh (fabric), bar and steel fib re reinforcement. The test results show that the amount and type of reinfor cement do not have any influence on the load capacity of the walls but only have an effect on the ductility of the walls. Comparisons are made with th e formula and other commonly used methods of estimation. The formula estima tions are much closer to the test results than the other methods for the ty pe of walls tested.