Deterministic seismic design

procedures tbr reintorced

concrete buildings
T h o m a s Paulay
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
(Received June 1982)

A brief review is given of a deterministic design philosophy with respect to

earthquake resisting ductile structures for reinforced concrete bui Idi ngs.
This was developed recently mainly in New Zealand. In this approach a
preferred hierarchy in the development of energy dissipating mechanisms
is postulated. Some applications of 'capacity design procedures' relevant
to beams, columns and shear walls, are outlined. The paramount importance of quantifiable good detailing is emphasized and the relevance of this
with respect to shear effects in plastic hinges, the confinement of compressed concrete, and bond between reinforcement and concrete are
examined. These aspects of the specific seismic environment are also
utilized to show fundamental differences in structural behaviour when
effects of gravity loads or seismic displacements are compared.
Key words: reinforced concrete, bond, buildings, ductility, dynamics,
frames, plastic properties, shear strength, stiffness, deterministic seismic
design
Introduction
It is now generally accepted that three main criteria need to
be satisfied when buildings are designed so as to respond
satisfactorily to earthquake motions.
Firstly, the designer must ensure that no damage of any
kind would occur during a small earthquake which would
have a probability of occurring in the locality say once
every 10-15 yr. This primarily involves the protection of
relatively brittle nonstructural components which have
limited deformability. Hence elastic structural displacements, such as interstorey drift, must be limited. Therefore
this is a stiffness criterion.
For less frequent moderate earthquakes with a return
period of say 25-30 yr, some nonstructural damage might
be acceptable. However, damage resulting from significant
inelastic deformations in certain localities of the structure
itself should be avoided because of the difficulty and cost
involved in structural repair. Hence for this kind of dynamic
excitation, the overall structural responses should be essentially elastic. This can be achieved if strength criteria,
usually specified by building codes, are satisfied.
Thirdly, the designer must ensure that the building will
not collapse during the largest seismic excitation to be
expected once during the lifetime of that structure. Clearly
for this earthquake total economic loss is acceptable. To
enable the structure to survive very large motions, it must
0141-0296/83]01079-08/$3.00
1983 Butterworth & Co. (Publishers) Ltd

possess considerable inelastic deformability. Hence the

third design criterion is ductility.
The principles relevant to stiffness and strength are well
established in general structural design. Aspects of the
development of ductility in structural components, often
subjected to combined flexure, shear and axial load, only
emerged from more recent research. Also it became necessary to re-examine the established and codified principles
of strength in reinforced concrete components in the light
of the nature of earthquake loading. Instead of monotonic
loading to failure, traditionally used in the verification of
strength theories, during earthquakes reversed cyclic
dynamic displacements well beyond the elastic limit are
imposed. These often alter the basic behaviour of reinforced concrete components. In recognition of these
changes, additional seismic requirements must be introduced into the design process. To emphasize these somewhat less known aspects of design, only the issues of
structural survival, associated with large inelastic displacements during reversed cyclic loading, are examined in this
study.
Because of the gross approximations involved in the
specifications of building codes when using equivalent
lateral static design loads, and the uncertainties associated
with the inelastic dynamic response of buildings to ground
motions, the characteristics of which are as yet impossible
to predict, a high degree of accuracy in the elastic analyses

Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January 79

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: 7-. Paulav

of the structure is not warranted. Specified static lateral
loads or elastic modal analysis techniques should be considered only as means to ensure a rational distribution of
potential strength throughout the structure. The fact tlrat
t\~r most buildings these loads result in mentber strengths
considerably less (typically 25%) than what would be
required if buildings were to respond elastically to the
design earthquake, also suggests that accuracy in elastic
analysis is of relatively little importance. Therel\~re in the
design of ductile structures for buildings, any analysis
teclmique that preserves consistency in tire treatmetrt of
members of statically indeterminate systems, should be
considered satisfactory. These include approxinrate manual
analysis procedures. ~
Utilizing tire results of an elastic analysis for combined
gravity and specified lateral loading, an acceptable energy
dissipating mechanism nmst be fornmlated. Moreover, a
desirable hierarchy in the developnrent of regions where
plastic defornrations must occur (plastic binges) should
also be e,(ablished. Once the choice is made, each member
can be given the appropriate strength to ensure that, if
necessary, only the chosen plastic mechanisln can develop
in the building.
To be adopted and used by a wide section of the engineering profession such a procedure must be simple. The
siurplicity of this design philosophy arises front its intent to
command the structure what it nmst do in the event e r a
very large earthquake, rather than to ask, by way of analysis,
what it might do? It is also postulated that the protnise of
surviving catastrophic ground shaking is primarily derived
from tim good quality of the detailing of reinforced concrete components in regions of inelastic deformations. One
of the aims of recent research efl\+rts has been to quantify
this goodness. 2

Choice of energy dissipating mechanisms

In multistorey frames the weak beam-strong column
system has gained general acceptance. Thereby plastic
hinges are made to develop in all beams when, if necessary,
a complete frame mechanism, as shown in Figure la, is to
be utilized. In seismic design, the formation of plastic

[
[
-

]
I
_7

~7-7

Load

a
Figure I

80

Sway mechanisms in laterally loaded multistorey frames

Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January

hinges at the base of the columns is generally unavoidable. The excessive ductility demand imposed on columns
of so-called 'soft storeys', is evident from Figure lb. For
frames taller than three to four storeys, this nrechanisnr
should be avoided. Theret\)re cohnnns tnust be made
stronger than beams and this is etnphasized in tire seismic
provisions of most building codes. However, codes do not
specify ]row nmch stronger columns should be.
If sufficient reserve strength is provided in colunms with
respect to tire strength that can be developed in adjacent
beams, then, no matter what kind of ground tnotion occurs,
only the preferred nmchanisnr of Figure la can develop.
The choice o f a unique mode of energy dissipation in a
structure, such as the frames of b't~trc 1, during unpredictable severe ground motions, forms the core of the deterministic design philosophy postulated. Because the strength
that might be developed in the member deliberately made
weaker, is related to the required capacity of the stronger
component, the procedure that follows is referred to as
'capacity design'.
hr tnost tnultistorey frames the tnajor part, it not the
entire resistance of lateral R),ces, is assigned to structural
(shear) walls. Possible failure modes in cani ilever walls are
shown in Figure 2. The deterministic seismic design approach,
outlined above, distates that flexural yielding in the clearly
defined plastic binge zone shoukl control the design. As a
corollary to these requirements, failure due h) diagonal
tension, sliding along horizontal construction joints, as seen
in l:~urc 2, inadequate anchorage or splicing of tim reinforceurent, instability of concrete components or compression bars nrust be avoided, while large inelastic seismic
displacements are sustained by the structure. Consequently,
the capacity of the mechallisms listed above must be in
excess of the actions thai result when in the presence of
gravity loads energy dissipation due to flexural yielding
develops at the base of a cantilever wall.
A similar strength hieralchy must be established between
the superstructure and its foundations. For obvious reasons
damage in the components e r a reinforced concrete foundalion st ructure should be avoided. Also components of the
t\mndations are as a general rule less suitable for energy
dissipation because in deep nrenrbers it is more difficult to
achieve significant ductility due to flexural yielding. I lence,
in such situations it is necessary to ensure that tire foundation structure, while highly stressed, remains elastic when
the complete energy dissipating mechanism el tim superstructure, such as shown in Figure la, is mobilized. At tlris
stage structural actions applied to tire foundation structure
have little relation to the lateral and gravity loads used in
the initial elastic analysis. Rather it is the actions that have
been "squeezed' out of the inelastic superstruclure during a
very large displaceurent pulse, thai should control the
design of the foundation system.
As a matter of routine, a designer will ensure that the
specified loads are safely translnitted through the foundation structure into the supporting soil. [lowever, nruch
larger forces need to be transmitted when the chosen
energy dissipating mechanisms of the superstructure are
being fully developed. These actions cannot be based on
'characteristic' or 'reliable' strength properties. They must
be evaluated from properties that are 'recognized by earthquakes'. This necessitates the evaluation of a probable
upper bound value of the strength of the superstructure.
Many shear cores of high-rise buildings in seismic areas,
assumed to behave as ductile cantilever walls, such as those

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: 7-. Paulay

t
D

Vf JNf
.///

IM
(a) Wall a c t i o n s

Ic

( b ) Flexure

(c)

(d) Sliding
shear

Diagonal
tension

(e)

H i n g e sliding

Figure 2 Failuremodes in cantilever shear walls

shown in Figure 2b, have been built and provided with

foundations that would not be capable of resisting actions
developed in the fully plastic shear core as detailed. As a
consequence, rocking of the entire core might occur and
the intended energy dissipation in the superstructure may
not take place at all. 3

overloading during large inelastic lateral displacements,

standard detailing used for gravity load carrying structures
will suffice in these areas. However, in regions of energy
dissipation, particularly when yielding in both tension and
compression can occur as a result of reversed cyclic loading,
special detailing is required and this requires considerable
attention.

T h e p h i l o s o p h y o f c a p a c i t y design
In the capacity design of earthquake-resisting structures,
elements of primary lateral load resisting systems are
chosen and suitably designed and detailed for energy dissipation under severe inelastic deformations. All other
structural elements are provided with sufficient strength so
that the chosen means of energy dissipation can be maintained. 2'4 For example in beams of multistorey frames,
plastic hinges at points of maximum moments (Figure la)
are chosen and appropriately proportioned. Flexural reinforcement is then provided at all other sections of the span
in such a way that yielding cannot occur when the full
stength of the two plastic hinges due to an earthquake is
developed.
In order to evaluate the probable maximum moment;
that is the flexural overstrength; which can ever be
generated during a large seismic pulse, allowance must be
made for both the mean yield strength and the strain
hardening of the steel used. Therefore in seismic design it is
necessary to ascertain that steel with yield strengths in
excess of that specified is not used in the construction.
When the flexural overstrength of a beam is established, the
associated shear forces, including those due to gravity load
on the span, are readily determined. When a beam is
designed to resist this shear demand, an undesirable shear
failure, which is unsuitable for purposes of energy dissipation, cannot occur. This is the simplest example of the
application of capacity design. In a similar fashion columns
must be designed to be stronger than beams and this is
examined in a subsequent section.
With a clear definition of the extent of the plastic hinge
and the elastic regions of all structural members, the
appropriate detailing of the reinforcement can be established. As yielding can never occur in the elastic regions of
members because plastic hinges protect these regions against

Seismic detailing requirements

One of the principal aims of the design for seismic resistance
is to ensure that, when required during inelastic dynamic
response, the chosen mechanisms will dissipate significant
amounts of energy in a stable manner. Stability in this
context means the maintenance of reasonably constant and
high levels of load resistance during several large reversed
cycles of inelastic displacements, with as little loss of stiffness as possible after every such cycle.
In the analytical assessment of the inelastic dynamic
response of frames, member behaviour is often modelled as
shown by curve 1 in Figure 3. Such a perfectly elasticplastic load-displacement relationship is unattainable in
plastic hinges of reinforced concrete members. In steel
beams a nonlinear moment-rotation relationship, characterized by the Bauschinger effect, such as that shown by

--

--

/,

//

""

CL3

Displacement

Figure 3 Idealized (1), optimal (2) and degrading (3, 4) displacement responseof a member during an inelastic pulse

Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January 81

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: T. Paulov

curve 2 in Figure 3, is usually observed. When internal
forces, such as tension, compression and shear, in the plastic
hinge of a beam or a shear wall are transferred predominantly by reinforcing steel, a response similar to that of
a s{eel beam, i.e. curve 2 in Figure 3, will be approached.
Such a response represents optimum realistic energy dissipation in reinforced concrete members, as measured by tire
area under the load-displacement curve, attainable during
inelastic displacement excursions.
When during large displacement reversals, significant
fractions of the internal nrember forces are to be transferred
by concrete, both strength and stiffness degradation may
occur. For reasons discussed later, one quadrant of a
complete typical hysteresis loop may take tire form of
curve 3 in Figure 3. Clearly the energy dissipation and
hence hysteretic damping, expressed by the shaded area
in Figure 3, is distinctly less than in the previous cases.
A plastic hinge that follows in a particular cycle the loaddisplacement path along curve 3, is likely to follow curve 4
in the following displacement cycle. Therefore, the resistance and energy dissipation during the same total displacement will now be less than in the previous cycle. The
straight lines radiating from the origin in Figure 3 may be
taken as typical measures of the stiffness associated with
each toad path. The aim of detailing nrust thus be to enable
inelastic response reasonably close to that shown by curve 2
to be attained.

Shear defi)rmations in plastic hinges

Models to simulate the behaviour of cracked reinforced
concrete members subjected to shear and flexure, and to
enable their design to be done in a simple manner, have
been postulated since the turn o f this century. The truss
analogy and the more recent diagonal compression field
theory, are only two of the approaches that have been
extensively used. The primary consideration in shear resistance has been to enable a viable mechanism to be mobilized
which can transmit shearing forces after the formation of
diagonal cracks. A relatively rare but equally important
consideration was the prevention of premature crushing of
the concrete, particularly in thin webs, due to diagonal
compression. In seismic situations this latter aspect becomes
more significant because the concrete in the web portion of
plastic hinges may be completely broken up by intersecting
diagonal cracks. Some of these cracks may be very wide
because they may be the continuation of flexural cracks.
Upon load reversals a complete closure of the irregular
surfaces of diagonal cracks may not take place. Hence transmission of diagonal compression with uniform concrete
stresses across previously formed diagonal cracks may not
be possible. This may lead to premature disintegration of
the concrete in webs. If computed shear stresses, developed
with ttre flexural overstrength of the member, are kept well
below the maxima suggested for monotonically loaded
members, failure due to diagonal compression will not
occur.

The more critical effect of shear in plastic hinges arises

from the necessity of having to transfer shear forces across
interconnected flexural cracks which form potential failure
planes at approximately right angles to the axis of the
member. After several load reversals, involving alternating
yielding in tension of tire flexural reinforcement at both
extremities of a beam section, shear transfer by interlocking aggregate particles breaks down and instead the
dowelling action of the flexural bars is mobilized. This

82 Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January

mechanism, however, allows relatively large sliding shear

displacement to occur, which in turn nray resull in dramatic
loss of stiffness, particularly at low loads innnediately after
displacement reversals. A typical response strongly influenced by sliding shear across a plastic hinge is shown by
curves 3 and 4 in Figure 3. A very effective method in
improving tire energy dissipating properties of such plastic
hinges is the use of some diagonal reinforcenrent, acting in
both tension and compression, s Recommendations have
been formulated for the design of such shear reinforcement
when both the shear stress and the amplitude of shear
reversals are large. 4 The phenomenon does not arise in
elastic structures or in those subjected to gravity loading
alone.

Cotl.['illeDlelll o.f compressed concrete

It is now well established z that by suitable confinement
of conrpressed concrete, the limiting strain at which significant reduction in the load carrying capacity in compression
commences, can be greatly increased. Strains well in excess
of 3% have been attained in confined axially loaded specimens. Thereby large curvature ductilities can also be
developed in compression dominated colunms under both
earthquake sinmlating static and dynamic loading. 6 Large
curvatures are necessary at the base of colmnns of multistorey ductile frames, where the formation of plastic hinges
with significant ductility demands cannot normally be
aw)ided.
Another benefit that may be derived from the confinement of concrete, is a significant increase of its strength in
the confined core. When confinement becomes effective the
unconfined cover concrete spalls off. The increased strength
in the core often more than offsets the loss that results
from the contribution of the spalled cover concrete.
The nrechanism of confinement by rectangular ties,
traditionally used in rectangular columns, is often assumed
to be analogous to that of circular ties or spirals. Code
recommendations in the United States are based on the
assumption that ties sustain lateral pressure, shown in
Figure 4a, as small beams spanning between supports, with
an efficiency of 50% of that of identically spaced circular
tiesf The core concrete is then assumed to arch vertically
between such sets of ties spaced vertically at a sufficiently
close distance as seen in Figure 4a. It must be appreciated
that ties, normally consisting of small, typically 10-12 mm
bars, are very flexible in bending. Consequently they are
inefficient in confinement while acting as beanrs.
It is suggested that a more effective confinement of the
core concrete in colunms can be achieved by utilizing the
main vertical colunm bars which normally have a larger
dianreter. These bars can act as relatively stiff beams if they
are supported against lateral movement by ties. This mechanism is shown in Figure 4b. This necessitates a relatively
close spacing between vertical bars around the perimeter of
the section. 4 The vertical spacing between tics is dictated by
instability criteria for the vertical bars with diameter d,,. In
this case the spalling of the cover concrete, the reduction of
the modulus of elasticity of the steel due to the Bauschinger
effect and the lateral pressure due to the expanding
concrete in the core must be considered. A spacing s not
less than 6d/, has been found to meet these criteria. 4'~'
Botld arid anchorage

The efficient interaction of the two materials in reinforced concrete composite structural members depends on

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: T. Paulay

o'oZ'2

(a)

//Concrete arch

(b)

V~////////Z////////Jx~
g

~Y/C////A

Figure 4 Contribution of overlapping ties to the confinement of

compressed concrete in columns

the bond between the surface of the reinforcing bars and

the surrounding concrete. This bond must be sufficient to
enable the full strength of the member to be developed,
while under service load conditions deformations associated
with bond must not result in unacceptable crack widths.
In the inelastic regions of earthquake resisting components
the designer is primarily concerned with the repeated
development of the full strength under reversed cyclic
loading. Bond-slip, when excessive, can affect the hysteretic
response and may cause loss of energy dissipation as shown
by curves 3 and 4 in Figure 3.
Bond is the most critical aspect of the design of
interior beam-column joints in multistorey frames. Commonly plastic hinges in beams must be expected at all faces
of interior columns. Yielding of the beam reinforcement
that passes continuously through such joints, cannot be
restricted to the hinge length only along the beam. Inevitably yield strains will propagate along beam bars also into
the joint core, particularly when due to large curvature
ductility demands strain hardening commences at the
critical beam section at the face of the column. When
deformed bars yield, the surrounding concrete is seriously
affected. As a consequence bond transfer is dramatically
reduced. With every load reversal, causing yielding in
tension and compression, yield strains propagate further
towards the centre of the column core. In many tests the
complete slip of beam bars has been observed, v
The particularly severe conditions for bond around
beam bars across interior joints arises from the fact that
during large inelastic displacement pulses a bar is pulled
at one side while it is pushed at the other side of the
column. Thereby a bar may have to transmit twice the
yield force within the depth of the column and subsequently within a reduced effective embedment length in the
joint core. Commonly the situation is further aggravated by
extremely large concurrent shearing stresses which cause
extensive diagonal cracking in the core concrete in both

directions. This means that beam bars are not embedded

in the same quality of concrete that they would be had
only gravity loading been applied. Bond failure under such
conditions is difficult to avoid. Hwoever, with the selection
of sufficiently small diameter beam bars, 4 a bond slip can
be delayed sufficiently so as not to interfere with efficient
energy dissipation.
At exterior beam-column joints, conditions are much
more favourable because beam bars can be bent into the
joint at the far face of a column. In determining the necessary development length, including a standard hook, a
length (typically 10dt~) over which bond is going to be
largely lost due to reversed yielding in the beam hinge,
should be discounted.
When plastic hinges are deliberately relocated away
from column faces, so that yielding at the column faces
can never occur, bond conditions improve dramatically.
Lapped splices present potential weaknesses in the
critical regions of earthquake resisting members. In
general current specifications are inadequate to ensure
that lapped splices would sustain several cycles of reversed
cyclic loading up to and including yield stress. The situation is particularly critical in beams or columns where
several and sometimes all the bars are lapped in the same
area. Increased splice lengths will only delay a failure.
generally due to progressive splitting of the concrete
between spliced bars, because with large reversed stresses
lapped splices tend to unzip. However, using the concepts
of the shear friction mechanism, sufficient transverse
clamping forces across potential sliding planes can be
generated when transverse bars crossing this plane are
stressed. Such bars of ties or stirrups must not be allowed
to yield. The spacing of tie legs must be sufficiently small
to ensure a reasonably uniform distribution of transverse
clamping forces along the length of the splice. Somewhat
closer spacing of transverse bars at the ends of the lapped
bars, where splitting cracks commence, is beneficial. The
design of the required amount of transverse bars may be
based on an equivalent friction coefficient of unity across
a splitting crack, provided that the steel stresses during
some 30 cycles of reversed cyclic loading do not exceed
85% of the yield strength.S
Transverse reinforcement in the end regions of the
columns could be provided in sufficient quantity to ensure
that the forces across splices would be trasferred while a
plastic hinge develops. However, it has been found s that
when bond transfer functions efficiently, the yielding
in such column bars is restricted to a much smaller length
than in plastic hinges without lapped splices. This means
that the effective plastic hinge length is very short. As a
consequence extremely large tensile strains may be generated
in bars when the total angular plastic rotations, associated
with large but acceptable displacement ductilities, are being
developed during a seismic pulse, This is highly undesirable.
Such lapped column bars have been observed to fracture in
tests. 8 Therefore lapped splices, however well designed,
should never be located in potential plastic hinge zones.

Aspects of column design

It was postulated that the formation of soft storeys, whereby plastic hinges can develop simultaneously at the top and
bottom end of columns in a storey, is unacceptable in
multistorey framed buildings. Therefore columns of upper
storeys must be stronger than the beams that frame into

Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January

83

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: 7-. Paulay

them. In most situations it is advantageous to avoid plastic
tringes in columns altogether. If this can be achieved:
(i) Greater reliance can be placed on shear resistance of
end regions of columns and hence less shear reinforcement
is required there.
(ii) No ductility demands of significance will arise and
hence tile transverse reinforcement For confining the core
concrete in the end regions can be drastically reduced.
(iii) Instead of the nlidheight of columns, lapped splices
can be placed at the etad region immediately above floors,
where they can be more easily constructed.
To achieve the necessary reserve flexural strength of
columns, first the maximum moment input From an adjacent
beam or from beams must be evaluated. This is tile flexural
overstrengtb o f the beam, tile meaning of which was defined
earlier. In our attempt to estimate this upper bound of tile
beam strength at plastic binges, allowance must be made for
tile mean yield strength of tile steel which is always in
excess of the guaranteed strength, increased resistance due
to strain hardening which will occur when ductility demands
are large, and finally for all bars that could contribute to
moment resistance in the beam as constructed. Therefore
soule of the slab reinforcement, placed parallel to and close
to the beam, lnust also be included. 4 The increase in flexural
resistance may be conveniently expressed by ttle factor ~'50
which is tile ratio of tile Flexural overstrength to the
moment resulting from an elastic analysis for the code
specified seismic loading, Mcode. Both quantities should be
taken at the theoretical ends of beanr spans, i.e. at column
centre lines.
Tile moment patterns over the entire height o f a column,
generated at various instants of an earthquake, can be very
different from the pattern that resulted From tim elastic
analysis of the frame for the specified lateral static loading.

This is illustrated in Figure 5. It is seen thai the point of

zero nroment, typically situated near the midheigh! of
upper storey columns, can have widely varying positions.
This means that, if plastic binge development at the lop or
or tire b o t t o m end of a cohnnn in a storey is to be aw)ided,
allowance must be inade For the possibly very uneven distribution of beam moment inputs at a Floor between the
column above and below that floor. Because tiffs large
wtriation of moments results primarily from lhe participation of the frame in the higher modes of vibration, allowance can be made with tile introduction of a dynamic
magnification factor co. The flexural strength o l'lhe
cohlnrn Mc,,i should tberelore be based on:
McoI -- Co~oMcodc
if hinging is to be avoided. The interpretation o f this twostep magnification of column moments is seen in Figure 6.
The value of do is period dependent. From a large nunlber
of time history studies of the inelastic dynamic response to
various ground excitations of frames st) designed, it was
found that 1.3 < co < 1.8. 4
Similar considerations allow an upper bound estimate It)
be made for earthquake induced axial and shear load
delllands o n cohnnns.

Shear w a l l s
The usefulness of structural walls in tire lateral load resistance of tall buildings has long been recognized. Because
buildings with significant shear walls are much stiffer than
those relying on frames, the first criterion o f seismic design
outlined in the introduction, i.e. protection against all
kinds o f damage, is eminently fulfilled. Suspicion still
prevails, however, with respect to the ability of shear walls

7
I

Plastic
beau
hinges

7
7
/

Moments from
static analysts

2.70s

3.09s

3.70s

7. 8 0 s

8 00s

Figure5 Acomparison of bending moment patterns encountered during instants of large earthquake motions with those derived from
code-specified lateral static loading

84 Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: T. Paulay

-'--"

[~\\,.y/ //

gradient/~/~

iii/

,F-J

~ --

Criticol
moment

///
Mcode

Figure 6 Magnification of design moments for columns

kl~r,t'~ir~l

r'~inirra~ , m

M
m
r'e

To illustrate the simple concepts of 'capacity design'

in relation to shear walls, the behaviour of a cantilever
wall is briefly examined. The failure modes that can be
encountered are shown in Figure 2. For the necessary
energy dissipation to occur when required, inelastic flexural
response (Figure 2b) must be encouraged and failure due to
other causes as shown in Figure 2 and reviewed in an
earlier section of this paper, must be suppressed. In shear
walls with small gravity load, or when shear walls are squat,
significant sliding in the plastic hinge region (Figure 2e)
may lead to loss of energy dissipation (see curves 3 and 4 in
Figure 3) and this may have to be controlled by providing
some diagonal reinforcement to cross the potential sliding
plane.
The necessary curvature ductility in shear wall sections is
usually achieved with ease. However, when axial compression is insignificant or when articulated sections with nonsymmetrical flanges are used, the flexural compression
strains may become excessive while the necessary rotational
ductility in the plastic hinge, usually at the base of the wall,
is being developed. In such situations at least the outer half
of the theoretical flexural compression zone should be provided with transverse confining reinforcement. 4 The confinement should extend over the length of the potential plastic
hinge, which may be assumed to be of the order of the
length of the wall lw (see Figure 7).
It will be appreciated that moment patterns over the
height of a cantilever wall, derived from elastic analyses for
lateral static load, are poorly representing moment demands
that will arise during the inelastic dynamic response of the
structure. Numerous case studies indicate, however, that
for uniform cantilever shear walls of regular buildings, a
linear moment variation gives a good envelope for dynamic
moment demands. Therefore it has been suggested 4 that the
vertical wall flexural reinforcement be curtailed in accordance with the moment envelope shown in Figure 7. With
this procedure we can ensure that for cantilever shear walls
of regular multistorey buildings, flexural ductility demands
are restricted to the potential plastic hinge zone at the base.
Consequently in the upper storeys the special seismic detailing requirements, applicable to inelastic regions of the
structure, need not be applied. This normally results in a
considerable saving in the amount of labour intensive transverse reinforcement needed.
To ensure that the shear strength of cantilever shear walls
always be slightly in excess of the shear demands during a
large earthquake, ductile structural walls should be designed
to resist:
Vwall = oJvO 0 gcode

L 3 '.,.A ,,.~ ~

I I IkJI

I IK~I

IL.

k.AL

I ',,.A K~ k.A I

,~t.I

~-I

/~t,I

Figure 7 Design bending moment envelope for cantilever shear

walls

to respond in a ductile manner to the same extent as reinforced concrete ductile frames are expected to. For this
reason many building codes require shear walls to be
designed for significantly larger earthquake forces.
The previous review of seismic aspects emphasized that
proper understanding of structural behaviour, quantified
good detailing of critical regions and the suppression of
undesirable failure modes will ensure that ductile structures
can be constructed. This applies equally to shear walls.
Recent studies have greatly added to our understanding of
the inelastic response of shear wall structures.

where Vcodeis the shear force derived with an elastic

analysis for the specified load, 0 accounts for the flexural
overstrength of the wall section as detailed at the base, and
cov is a dynamic shear magnification factor. The latter
allows for higher mode dynamic effects and consequently
its value depends on the fundamental period of the structure. Typically 1.0 < coy< 1.8 for walls from one storey to
over 15 storeys high. This is yet another example of the
application of capacity design principles.
Conclusions
The basic concepts of a simple deterministic design philosophy, relevant to buildings that are situated in areas of
high seismic risk, has been outlined. This approach aims to

Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January 85

Deterministic seismic design procedures for RC buildings: T. Paulay

ensure that, when required, plastic hinges will develop in
ductile reinforced concrete structures only in desirable
localities which have been carefully selected by the designer.
Tire application of these concepts with respect to upper
storey colunms of ductile frames and to cantilever shear
walls were briefly outlined. Some aspects of structural
behaviour during seismic excitations, that are distinctly
different from well defined behaviour encountered in
reinforced concrete structures that are subjected to gravity
and wind loadings only, have been specifically reviewed. To
ensure that the selected level of resistance of the structure
for the building can be maintained with only negligible
decay, while large ductility demands are imposed, potential
plastic hinge regions must be detailed most carefully. A few
recently identified areas, where the quality of detailing is
of paramount importance, have also been discussed briefly.

Acknowledgements
The contribution of the colleagues of the author at the
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and
within the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake
Engineering to the development of a seismic design philosophy briefly outlined here, is gratefully acknowledged.

86 Eng. Struct., 1983, Vol. 5, January

This presentation to honour Professor B. Thm-limann is

mainly intended for designers who are trot regulaily
inw)lved with earthquake problems.

References
I

Mute, K. "Designanalysis of buildings', Maruzen, lokyo, 1974,

361 pp.
2 Park, R. and Paulay, T. 'Reinforced concrete smlctures', John
Wiley, New York, 1975
3 Binney, J. and Paulay, T. 'Foundations for shear wall structures'.
Bull. :~k,w Zealand Nat. Soc. Earthquake Eng. 1980, 13 (2), 171
4 Standards Association of New Zealand, 'Code of practice for the
design of concrete structures', Draft New Zealand Standard
NZS3101, Parts 1 and 2, 1982
5 Paulay, T. and Bull, I. N. 'Shear effects on plastic hinges of
earthquake resisting reinforced concrete frames', Comitd EuroInternational du B~ton, Bulletin d'Information No. 132, April
1979, pp. 165-172
6 Scolt, B. D., Park, R. and Priestlcy, M..1. N. 'Stress-strain
behaviour of concrete confined by overlapping hoops at low
and high strain rates',.l. ,4incr. Concrete Inst., lb'oe. 1982,
79 (1), 13
7 Paulay, T., Park, R. and Priestley, M. J. N. 'Reinforced concrete beam-columnjoints under seismic actions'. ,I..truer. Concrete Inst., Prec. 1978, 75 tl 1), 585
8 Paulay, T. 'Lapped splices in earthquake-resisting columns',
J. Amer. Concrete b~st.. Prec. (in press)