Finite element analysis of reinforced concrete shear walls using ANSYS workbench

Abstract

Reinforced Concrete (RC) shear walls are essential structural elements in high-rise buildings, primarily designed to resist lateral forces induced by wind and seismic activities. The performance of shear walls under such loads is complex due to nonlinear behaviors, cracking, and interaction between concrete and steel reinforcement. This study presents a detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of RC shear walls using ANSYS Workbench. Both material and geometric nonlinearity were considered. Concrete was modeled using the Concrete Damaged Plasticity model, and reinforcement was represented as embedded rebar. The numerical results were validated against experimental data from published literature. Parametric studies were also conducted to evaluate the influence of wall thickness, height-to-length ratio, and reinforcement detailing on lateral load capacity and failure modes. The findings provide crucial insights into the design and retrofitting of RC shear walls for enhanced seismic resilience.