Ability of axial response of idealized prism to represent ultimate lateral capacity of flexural RC wall

The unexpected instability failure modes observed in reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings during the Chile (2010) and New Zealand (2010–11) earthquakes revived the need for further research on seismic design and performance of RC walls. Subsequently, experimental campaigns involving prismatic members representing the boundary regions of RC slender walls gained popularity to study the various instability failure modes. These idealized prismatic members are subjected to uniaxial loading. The underlying assumption with the prism testing concept is that the results obtained from the prism experiments are conservative and deemed representative of the wall response. However, previous research has shown that the applicability of testing idealized prism to simulate the failure mechanisms observed in the corresponding wall boundary zones is dependent on the strain gradient along the wall and prism height. This study scrutinizes the influence of strain gradient on the failure mechanisms observed in the wall experiments and proposes a method to include this critical parameter in the prism testing concept. This study also analytically explored the ability of idealized prisms to predict the wall drift response with an aim to establish confidence into the prism testing approach. • Idealized prism predicts the wall response well if prism tests account for the strain gradient existing along wall height. • A typical prism test imposes uniform strain; therefore, a reliable method is introduced to capture this strain gradient. • A method is also proposed that reasonably predicts the wall ultimate drift capacity deduced from the prism results.