Seismic shear demand of ductile cantilever walls: a Canadian code perspective

During severe earthquakes, ductile flexural walls are expected to exhibit inelastic flexural behaviour while other brittle deformation mechanisms, such as shear, should remain elastic. The philosophy of the Canadian seismic provisions for flexural walls is based on the assumption that the force reduction factor is applicable to both flexure and shear. If the bended moments are limited because of the flexural strength of a wall, then the shear forces are considered to be limited by the same ratio. Brittle shear failures in walls are still possible even if their shear strengths are established by the Canadian standards. This paper presents an analytical investigation on the shear demand of ductile flexural walls designed for three different seismic zones in Canada. -from Authors