The test results indicated that axial tensile force significantly affects the failure modes, shear stiffness and lateral strength of RC walls. ( 2020) presented the coupled axial tension–shear behaviour of low-aspect-ratio RC walls.

The walls between these aspect ratios are referred to as the moderate-aspect-ratio wall. The squat wall (also named as “low-aspect-ratio wall”) is defined for walls having aspect ratio less than approximately 1.0. The slender wall (also named as “high-aspect-ratio wall”) is usually defined for walls having aspect ratio greater than approximately 2.0. Structural walls are generally classified by wall aspect ratio or shear-to-span ratio. Recently, an increased attention has been given to the behaviour of RC walls under these complicated loading conditions. In recent years, numerous studies on RC walls have focused on the seismic performance of RC walls under axial compression-flexure and compression-shear, but only a few has focused on RC walls under coupled axial tension–flexure or tension–shear.

Therefore, in seismic design of high-rise buildings, special attention shall be given to RC walls subjected to coupled axial tension and horizontal loading.

Past research indicates that axial tension leads to decreased stiffness and strength of RC walls, and consequently results in lateral force redistribution among walls (Aktan & Bertero, 1984 Paulay & Santhakumar, 1976). Significant fracture of longitudinal rebar was observed in the bottom shear walls, indicating that the collapse of the Alto Rio apartment was attributed to combined tension-bending–shear load induced by strong seismic load (Song et al., 2012). The collapsed Alto Rio apartment was composed of RC shear walls, with 15 stories aboveground and two stories of basement. In such a critical loading condition, RC walls are susceptible to substantial structural damage and failure, as observed in the collapse of Alto Rio apartment in the 2010 Chile earthquake (Kato et al., 2010). Under strong ground motion, some reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls may be subjected to combined axial tensile forces and shear forces. Shear walls are typically the major lateral load-carrying structures in high-rise buildings.

On the basis of the analysis results, useful information were provided when designing or assessing the seismic behaviour of RC slender walls under coupled axial tension–flexure loading. Additional analyses were conducted using the developed model to investigate the effect of key design parameters on the peak strength, ultimate deformation capacity and plastic hinge length of RC walls under axial tension and cyclic lateral loading. The model was verified using experimental data from recent RC wall tests under axial tension and cyclic lateral loading, and results showed that the model can accurately capture the overall response of RC walls. In this study, a detailed finite element model was developed in VecTor2 to provide an effective tool for the further investigation of the seismic behaviour of RC walls subjected to axial tension and cyclic lateral loading. Under strong earthquakes, reinforced concrete (RC) walls in high-rise buildings, particularly in wall piers that form part of a coupled or core wall system, may experience coupled axial tension–flexure loading.

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