Sliding Shear Failure of Basement-Clamped Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

After an earthquake struck Chile in 1985, sliding shear failure was observed in the clamping zone of stabilising walls. Even houses with only four storeys can fail due to sliding shear below basement ceilings. This type of failure has received little attention in the past; however, it leads to premature failure of the clamping effect in the basement box. Bending deformations cannot fully develop, which significantly reduces the seismic safety; it is thus important to learn more about the sliding shear failure of basement-clamped shear walls. The overall behaviour is analysed based on three large-scale shear wall tests. The deformation states around the sliding shear zone are evaluated and a simple estimate is given of when sliding shear failure can occur.