Coupled Shear Walls

Prof M T R Jayasinghe
Coupled Shear Walls

In tall buildings, there may be many concrete

walls that are aligned
This may allow such structures to be connected
by moment resisting members like shallow or
deeper beams
An apartment building where the apartments
are located on either side of a corridor is a good
example
Another is lift walls separated by a passage
Depending on the stiffness of the connecting
member, a composite action could be developed
when resisting the lateral loads
 Behaviour of Coupled
Shear Walls
If two inplane shear walls are connected by pin-ended
links that transmits axial forces between them, the
externally applied moments will be resisted by the
individual moments on the two walls
Wind load w
The magnitude of the moment on each wall will be per unit
proportional to the flexural rigidity H height
Each wall subjected to a flexural moment will cause
maximum tension and compression on the extreme fibres
In addition, there will be compressive stresses on the wall
due to gravity loads such as self weight and any additional z
load transferred on to it by the floor slabs supported by
the concrete wall
The case where the coupled shear walls are subjected to a
lateral load of uniform magnitude will be discussed
 The overall behaviour
When, two in-planer walls are subjected to lateral loads, the ends of
the connecting beam are forced to rotate and displace vertically
This will cause the connecting beam to bend in double curvature
which will induce shears in the connecting beams
Hence, there will be equal and opposite bending moments and
shear forces induced on the walls at the beam wall junctions to
provide the equilibrium
The shears transferred to the walls will induce axial loads in the
two walls
These will be tensile on the windward walls and compressive in the
leeward walls
The last term Nl represents the effects of the coupling action
This term will be zero in the case of walls linked by axial
connections (no flexural moment carrying capacity) and will reach
the maximum when the connecting beams are infinitely rigid
Theory based solution
For these equations, it is possible to define few important
parameters that will depend on the properties of the
connecting beams and the individual shear walls that are
connected
𝐼 = 𝐼1 + 𝐼2 where 𝐼1 is the second moment of area of the first
wall about an axis perpendicular to the plane of bending and
located at the centroid. 𝐼2 is the value corresponding to second
wall
𝐴 = 𝐴1 + 𝐴2 where 𝐴1 and 𝐴2 are the plan areas
corresponding to walls 1 and 2
𝐼𝑐 is the second moment of area of the coupling beam
𝑙 is the distance between the centers of the two walls on plan
view
𝑏 is the clear separation between the two coupling walls
2 12𝐼𝑐 𝑙2
∝ = 𝑏3 ℎ𝐼
𝐴𝐼
𝑘2 = 1 + 𝐴 2
1 𝐴2 𝑙
 The axial force on each
shear wall
When the wall is subjected to a uniformly distributed
lateral load, the externally applied moment at any level
z of a wall of total height of h is given by:
𝑴 = 𝑤 𝐻 − 𝑧 2ൗ
2
This moment will give rise to an axial load, N,
transferred to shear walls. The value of this force N
can be expressed as follows:

𝑧
The variation of 𝐹1 with two parameters and 𝑘 ∝ 𝐻
𝐻
can be represented graphically as shown in Figure
Shear in the coupling beam
The shear in the connecting medium can be expressed as
given in the following:

𝑤𝐻 𝑧
𝑞= 𝐹 ,𝑘 ∝ 𝐻
𝑘2𝑙 2 𝐻
𝑧
The variation of 𝐹2 with two parameters and 𝑘 ∝ 𝐻 can
𝐻
be represented graphically as shown in Figure
It should be noted that this value of q is given in kN/m.
Hence, the total shear in a coupling beam will be qh
As can be seen in Figure, as the parameter kαH increases,
the position of the beam having a maximum shear moves
progressively down the height of the structure
The beam having the maximum shear will be subjected to
a maximum bending moment as well.
 The lateral deflection
Owing to the coupling action, there will be two moments acting
on the structure
One is the external moment and the other is the resistance
provided by the coupling action
Hence, there will be a reduction in the deflection which could
be important for the design engineer
The reduction in the maximum deflection could be represented
in the graphical form.
For example, when subjected to uniform lateral load, the
maximum deflection at the top of the structure will be given by
the following formula:

𝑤𝐻4
𝑦𝐻 =
8𝐸𝐼
When the coupling action is available, it is possible to use 𝐹3
indicated graphically in Figure to obtain the maximum
deflection at the top of the coupled shear wall as follows:
𝑤𝐻4
𝑦𝐻 = 𝐹 𝑘, ∝ 𝐻
8𝐸𝐼 3
Example
This design example is intended to illustrate the use of design equations and curves for a typical case of a coupled shear wall where
comparison was carried out for stresses when coupling action is available and not available.
Two walls of length 5.0 m and 7.0 m have been connected by a coupling beam of 600 mm of depth and 250 mm of thickness and of length 2.5
m. The thickness of the walls is also 250 mm. The floor to floor height is 3.2 m. The building has twenty floors.
The floor slabs span 6.25 m thus giving a clear spacing of 6.0 between two walls. This building will be used for apartments.
The floor slabs are of 200 mm thickness and also has an allowance of 1 kN/m2 for finishes and an allowance of 0.5 kN/m2 for services. All the
internal partitions will be of light weight and an allowance of 1.0 kN/m2 would be sufficient. The live load considered is 2.0 kN/m2.
The walls can be considered as subjected to a uniform lateral load of 6.0 kN/m. Answer the following:
1. Determine the dead and imposed loads acting on the floor slabs
2. Determine the second moments of areas of the walls and the connecting beams
3. Determine the structural parameters k, α and kαH
4. If the walls are acting independently, determine the bending moment resisted by each wall at the ground floor level
5. Determine the vertical loads acting at the ground level
6. Hence, determine the stress distribution that could occur under each wall
7. What will be the moment resisted by each wall when the coupling action is effective?
8. Determine the stress distribution that can occur in each wall when the coupling action is effective
9. Determine the maximum forces that would act on a coupling beam
10. Comment on the reduction in deflection that would be possible with coupling the shear walls
Evaluation of vertical loads

• Self weight of slab = 0.2 x 25 = 5 kN/m2

• Finishes and Services = 1.0 + 0.5 = 1.5 kN/m2
• Partitions = 1.0 kN/m2
• Length effective per wall = 6.0 m
• Total width = 7.0 + 2.5 + 5.0 = 14.5 m
• Average vertical stress per floor due to permanent loads =
5.0+1.5+1.0 ×14.5 ×6.0
= 217.5 kN/m2
12.0 ×0.25
2.0 ×14.5 ×6.0
• Variable (live) load = = 58.0 kN/m2
12.0 ×0.25
• Due to 20 floors
• Self weight of the wall = 64 x 25 = 1600 kN/m2
• Unfactrored average Permanent stress = 217.5 x 20 +1600 = 5950 kN/m2
• Unfactored average Variable stress = 58.0 x 20 = 1160 kN/m2
Coupled shear wall – basic details

1
• 𝐼1 = × 0.25 × 73 = 7.14 m4
12
1
• 𝐼2 = × 0.25 × 53 = 2.60 m4
12
• 𝐼 = 𝐼1 + 𝐼2 =7.14+2.6 =9.74
• 𝐴1 = 7.0 × 0.25 = 1.75 𝑚2
• 𝐴2 = 5.0 × 0.25 = 1.25 𝑚2
• 𝐴1 + 𝐴2 = 3.0 𝑚2
7.0 5.0
l = + 2.5 + = 8.5 𝑚
2 2
b = 2.5 m, h=3.2 m, H = 64 m
1
𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = × 0.25 × 0.63 = 4.5 × 10−3
12
Walls acting without coupling action
ℎ2 642
• 𝑀= 𝑤 =6 × = 12288 kNm
2 2
• 𝑀 = 𝑀1 + 𝑀2
𝐼1 7.14
• 𝑀1 = 𝑀 = × 12288 = 9007.8 𝑘𝑁𝑚
𝐼1 +𝐼2 9.74
𝐼2 2.60
• 𝑀2 = 𝑀 − 𝑁𝑙 = × 12288 = 3280.2 𝑘𝑁𝑚
𝐼1 +𝐼2 9.74
• 7.0 m long wall
1 2 1
•𝑍= bℎ = × 0.25 × 72 = 2.04
6 6
𝑀 9007.8
• Maximum stress due to lateral load = = = 4415.6 kN/m2
𝑍 2.04
• Unfactrored average Permanent stress = 4350 kN/m2
• Unfactored average Variable stress = 1160 kN/m2
Determination of moment in each wall
12𝐼𝑐 𝑙 2 12 ×4.5 × 10−3 × 8.52
• ∝2 = = = 8.01 × 10−3
𝑏 3 ℎ𝐼 2.53 ×3.2 ×9.74
• ∝ = 0.0894
𝐴𝐼 3.0 ×9.74
• 𝑘2 =1+ = 1+ = 1.18
𝐴1 𝐴2 𝑙 2 1.75 ×1.25 × 8.52
• 𝑘 = 1.086
• 𝑘 ∝ 𝐻 = 1.086 × 0.0894 x 64 = 6.21

𝑧
• To find the stresses at the base level, = 0.0, 𝑘 ∝ 𝐻 = 6.21, 𝐹1 = 0.35
𝐻
6 ×642 ×0.35
•𝑁= = 857 kN
1.18×8.5
Moment in each wall
• 𝑀 = 𝑀1 + 𝑀2 + 𝑁𝑙
• 𝑀1 + 𝑀2 = 𝑀 − 𝑁𝑙
ℎ2 642
•𝑀= 𝑤 =6 × = 12288 kNm
2 2
6 ×642 ×0.35
•𝑁= = 857 kN
1.18×8.5
• 𝑀 − 𝑁𝑙 = 12288 − 857 × 8.5 = 5003.5
𝐼1 7.14
• 𝑀1 = 𝑀 − 𝑁𝑙 = × 5003.5 = 3667.5 𝑘𝑁𝑚
𝐼1 +𝐼2 9.74
𝐼2 2.60
• 𝑀2 = 𝑀 − 𝑁𝑙 = × 5003.5 = 1335.6 𝑘𝑁𝑚
𝐼1 +𝐼2 9.74
Stress distribution in the 7.0 m wall with coupling action

• 7.0 m long wall

𝑀 3667.5
• Maximum stress due to lateral load = = = 1797.7 kN/m2
𝑍 2.04
857
• Stress due to force N (tensile) = = 489.7 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
1.75

1797.7

-1797.7
489.7

2287.4
-1308
Only due to coupling action
Stress distribution in the 5.0 m wall with coupling action

• 5.0 m long wall

𝑀 1335.6
• Maximum stress due to lateral load = = = 1284.2 kN/m2
𝑍 1.04
−857
• Stress due to force N (compressive) = = −489.7 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
1.75

1284.2

-1284.2

-489.7

797.2 -1773.9
Comparison for the 7.0 m long wall

Without coupling action With coupling action

Permanent -5950 kN/m2

Variable -1160 kN/m2

Wind 4415.6 kN/m2 Wind 2287.4 kN/m2

Wind -1308 kN/m2

Wind -4415.6 kN/m2
Design of coupling
beam

𝑘 ∝ 𝐻 = 6.21
F2 = 0.53, z/H =0.3
6 ×64 𝑘𝑁
q= × 0.53 = 20.3
1.18×8.5 𝑚
Maximum shear on the coupling beam
= 20.3 x 3.2 = 64.96 kN
Maximum moment = 64.96 x (2.5/2) =
77.95 kNm
Additional reinforcement to improve the ductility
Formation of plastic hinges can reduce the capacity of the coupling beams significantly

Hence, additional diagonal reinforcement can be provided which will act in tension and
compression

500
𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∝=
2500

∝ = 11.30

∝ 2C sin ∝ = 64.96 kN

C = 165 kN

0.87 x As x 500 = 165000

As = 379 mm2

Provide a 25 mm diameter bar

 Reduction in deflection

Deflection without coupling action

𝒘𝑯𝟒 𝟔 × 𝟔𝟒𝟒
𝒚𝑯 = = 𝟔
= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟏
𝟖𝑬𝑰 𝟖 × 𝟐𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎 × 𝟗. 𝟕𝟒

𝑘 = 1.086
𝑘 ∝ 𝐻 = 1.086 × 0.0894 x 64 = 6.21
F3 = 0.2
With coupling action, yH = 0.051*0.2 = 0.010