Flexural behaviour of RC shear wall using enhanced finite element model

Abstract Accurate nonlinear finite element modelling (FEM) of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls is essential for evaluating their seismic performance and ensuring structural safety. However, most existing modelling approaches often involve high computational costs or simplified representations of nonlinear behaviour such as cracking, tension stiffening, and confinement effects. This study presents a practical and verified FEM approach for RC shear walls that fail in flexure, achieving a balance between accuracy and computational efficiency. The proposed modelling strategy employs nonlinear material constitutive models for both concrete and reinforcement and utilizes a refined mesh configuration to capture the global response while maintaining manageable computation times. The analyses were performed using CSI ETABS, and the model was validated against thirteen experimental wall specimens from nine independent studies with varying geometries, reinforcement ratios, and boundary conditions. The comparison of pushover curves indicated strong agreement with experimental data. The results confirm that the proposed FEM methodology can reliably simulate the nonlinear behaviour of flexural RC shear walls.