Design of Ordinary Shear Walls

The shear wall is designed as a cantilever beam fixed at the base, to transfer load to
the foundation. Shear forces, bending moments and axial loads are maximums at the
base of the wall.
Types of Reinforcement:
To control cracking, shear reinforcement is required in the transverse and
longitudinal directions, to resist in-plane shear forces.
The vertical reinforcement in the wall serves as flexural reinforcement. If large
moment capacity is required, additional reinforcement can be placed at the ends of
the wall within the section itself, or within enlargements at the ends. The heavily
reinforced or enlarged sections are called boundary elements.

ACI Table R18.2 summarizes the applicability of provisions of chapter 18 in terms of

various seismic design categories.

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In-Plane Shear Strength:
According to ACI 11.5.1.1, design of cross sections subjected to shear are based on
Vn Vu
(1)
where Vu is the factored force at the section considered and Vn is the nominal shear
strength computed from ACI 11.5.4.4,or
Vn Vc Vs
(2)
where Vc is nominal shear strength provided by concrete and Vs is nominal shear
strength provided by shear reinforcement.
Based on ACI 11.5.4.3, Vn ,max at any horizontal section for shear in plane of the wall
is not to be taken greater than

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 Vn , max 2.65 f c h d
(3)
where h is thickness of wall, and d is the effective depth in the direction of
bending, may be taken as 0.8 lw , where l w is length of wall considered in direction of
shear force, as stated in ACI 11.5.4.2. A larger value of d , equal to the distance from
extreme compression fiber to center of force of all reinforcement in tension, be
permitted if the center of tension is calculated by a strain compatibility analysis.
Based on ACI 11.5.4.6, the shear strength provided by concrete Vc is given by any of
the following equations, as applicable.
For axial compression, Eqn. (4) is applicable

Vc 0.53 f c h d
(4)
For axial tension, Eqn. (5) is applicable
Nu
Vc 0.53 1 f c h d
35 A
g
(5)
where Ag is the gross area of wall section and N u is the factored axial tension force
in Eqn. (5).
ACI 11.9.6 specifies that a more detailed analysis is permitted to evaluate Vc as
follows, where Vc is the lesser of the two values shown in Eqns. (6) and (7).

Nu d
Vc 0.88 f 'c h d (6)
4 lw
0 .2 N u
l w 0.33 f 'c
(7)
Vc 0.16 f 'c hd
lw h
M u lw

Vu 2

Where N u is positive for compression and negative for tension. If M u / Vu lw / 2 is

negative, Eqn. (7) is not applicable.

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Shear Reinforcement:
A- If in-plane shear force Vu is less than Vc / 2 , minimum wall longitudinal and
transverse shear reinforcement shall be in accordance with ACI Table 11.6.1.

B- If in-plane shear force Vu is more than or equal to Vc / 2 , minimum shear

reinforcement in the longitudinal direction, l shall be provided, based on ACI
11.6.2.
h
l 0.0025 0.50 2.5 w t 0.0025 0.0025 (8)
lw
The above value need not exceed t given in Table 11.6.1.
Minimum shear reinforcement in the transverse direction, t shall be at least 0.0025.

C- According to ACI 11.5.4.8 when the factored shear force Vu exceeds Vc ,

transverse shear reinforcement must be provided according to the following equation.
Av f yt d
Vs
S
(9)
Where Av is area of transverse shear reinforcement within a distance S . Longitudinal
shear reinforcement, l is provided as in case (B), shown above.

Spacing of Transverse Reinforcement:

Based on ACI 11.7.3.1, spacing of transverse reinforcement is not to exceed the
smallest of lw / 5 , 3 h , 45 cm .

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Spacing of Longitudinal Reinforcement:
Based on ACI 11.7.2.1, spacing of transverse reinforcement is not to exceed the
smallest of lw / 3 , 3 h , 45 cm .
Critical Section for Shear:
The critical section for shear is taken at a distance equal to half the wall length lw / 2 ,
or half the wall height hw / 2 , whichever is less. Sections between the base of the wall
and the critical section are to be designed for the shear at the critical section, as
specified in ACI 11.5.4.7.

Shear wall Reinforcement

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Design for Flexure:
The wall must be designed to resist the bending moment at the base and the axial
force produced by the wall weight or the vertical loads it carries. Thus, it is
considered as a beam-column.
For rectangular shear walls containing uniformly distributed vertical reinforcement
and subjected to an axial load smaller than that producing balanced failure, the
following equation, developed by Cardenas and Magura in ACI SP-36 in 1973, can
be used to determine the approximate moment capacity of the wall.
P C
M u 0.5 As f y lw 1 u 1
A f
s y lw
Where:

C

lw 2 0.85 1
A f P
s y and u
lw h f c lw h f c

C distance from the extreme compression fiber to the neutral axis

As = total area of vertical reinforcement
l w = horizontal length of wall
Pu = factored axial compressive load
f y = yield strength of reinforcement
= strength reduction factor for bending

Additional Reinforcement around Openings:

In addition to the required transverse and longitudinal reinforcement explained
earlier, ACI 11.7.5.1 states that not less than 2 16 mm bars are provided around
all window and door openings in both directions in walls having two layers of
reinforcement. In walls having a single layer of reinforcement in both
directions, 116 mm is to be provided. Such bars are to be extended to develop
f y in tension at the corners of the openings.

Additional reinforcement around wall openings

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Example (6):
For shear wall 'A' in example (5), design the reinforcement required for shear and
flexure using ACI 318-14 for reinforced concrete design (ordinary shear wall).
Use f c 300kg / cm 2 and f y 4200kg / cm 2 .

Solution:

From example 5, FAx 0.33 Fx

Critical section for shear is located at a distance not more than the smaller
lw / 2
of , i.e., at 1.5 m from the base of the wall.
hw / 2

1- Design for shear:

Check for maximum nominal shear force

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Vn, max 2.65 f 'c h d
2.65 300 20 0.8300/1000 220.32 tons
Vu , max 0.75 220.32 165.24 tons 15.16 tons O.K

Vc 0.53 f 'c h d
Vc 0.53 300 200.8300 / 1000 44.06 tons
Vc 0.7544.06 33.045 tons
Vc / 2 33.045 / 2 16.523 tons
In zones 1 through 8, Vu Vc / 2

1-1 Transverse shear reinforcement:

t 0.0020
lw / 5 60cm
S2 the smaller of 3h 60cm
45cm
or S 2,max 45cm

0.0020 h 0.002020 and t 0.04cm 2 / cm

At A
S2 S2
For two curtains of reinforcement and trying 10 mm bars
20.785
0.04 , S 2 39.25 cm S 2, max O.K
S2
Use 10 mm bars @ 30cm.

1-2 Longitudinal shear reinforcement:

l 0.0012

l w / 3 100cm
S1 the smaller of 3h 60cm
45cm

or S1,max 45cm
For two curtains of reinforcement, and trying 10 mm bars
20.785
0.0012h 0.001220
Al
S1 S1
And S1 65.42 cm S1,max
Use 10mm bars @ 30cm.
Note that flexural reinforcement is expected to control.

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2- Design for flexure and axial loads:
P c
M u 0.5A s f y l w 1 u 1

A s f y l w
Where:
c As f y pu
, and
lw 2 0.851 lw h fc ' lw h fc '
For the vertical shear reinforcement of 10 mm @ 30cm, As 17.28cm2 ,
300 280 0.836 , s y 17.28 4200 0.04032
0.05 A f
0.85
70 l w h f c ' 30020300
Pu Pu 1000
, 0.00055Pu ,
l w h f c ' 300 20300

c 0.04032 0.00055Pu 0.04032 0.00055Pu

lw 2 0.04032 0.850.836 0.79124

For zone 1:
Neglecting dead load supported by the shear wall and considering own weight of the
wall only, the load combination to be considered is
0.9 0.2 SDS D QE , or
Vertical load= (0.90 (0.2)(0.107) ) D = 0.88 D
Pu 0.88 0.23242.5 31.68 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005531.68
0.072346
lw 0.79124
M u 130.55 t.m 265.47 t.m , i.e. boundary elements are required at wall ends
M 'u 265.47 130.55 134.92 t.m
134.92 100000
As , additional 2 0.785 14.99 cm 2
0.9 4200266
Use 8 16 mm bars in each of the two boundary elements.

For zone 2:
Pu 0.88 0.23212.5 27.72 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005527.72
0.069685
lw 0.79124

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M u 125.96 t.m 219.99 t.m , i.e. boundary elements are required at wall ends
M 'u 219.99 125.96 94.03 t.m
94.03 100000
As , additional 2 0.785 10.92 cm 2
0.9 4200266
Use 8 14 mm bars in each of the two boundary elements.

For zone 3:
Pu 0.88 0.23182.5 23.76 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005523.76
0.066933
lw 0.79124
M u 121.35 t.m 175.41 t.m , i.e. boundary elements are required at wall ends
M 'u 175.41 121.35 54.06 t.m
54.06 100000
As , additional 2 0.785 6.95 cm 2
0.9 4200266
Use 6 14 mm bars in each of the two boundary elements.

For zone 4:
Pu 0.88 0.23152.5 19.80 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005519.80
0.064182
lw 0.79124
M u 116.70 t.m 132.90 t.m , i.e. boundary elements are required at wall ends
M 'u 132.9 116.70 16.20 t.m
16.2 100000
As , additional 2 0.785 3.18 cm 2
0.9 4200266
Use 3 14 mm bars in each of the two boundary elements.

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For Zone 5
Pu 0.88 0.23122.5 15.84 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005515.84
0.061431
lw 0.79124
M u 112.03 t.m 93.78 t.m , i.e. no boundary elements are required at wall ends

For Zone 6
Pu 0.88 0.2392.5 11.88 tons
c 0.04032 0.0005511.88
0.058679
lw 0.79124
M u 107.33t.m 59.43 t.m , i.e. no boundary elements are required at wall ends
For Zone 7
Pu 0.88 0.2362.5 7.92 tons
c 0.04032 0.000557.92
0.055928
lw 0.79124
M u 102.59 t.m 31.32 t.m , i.e. no boundary elements are required at wall ends
For Zone 8
Pu 0.88 0.2332.5 3.96 tons
c 0.04032 0.000553.96
0.053177
lw 0.79124
M u 97.83t.m 10.98 t.m , i.e. no boundary elements are required at wall ends

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