Linear elastic analysis remains a cornerstone of seismic design, despite its limitations in capturing the nonlinear behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. RC walls connected only by slabs are typically modelled as assemblies of cantilever walls, where slabs are considered to act solely as rigid diaphragms. However, recent studies have shown that in configurations such as elevator shafts with closely spaced slender walls, slabs can provide significant coupling between the walls. In such cases, considerable axial forces can be induced in the wall piers, altering their stiffness and strength and causing notable redistributions of seismic demand in the nonlinear range–effects that cannot be accurately captured using elastic methods. To address this issue, a simple and efficient pushover-based design method for RC walls coupled only by slabs, without coupling beams, is proposed. The method integrates the N2 method and the capacity design principle s. Its effectiveness was verified on various RC wall buildings using nonlinear response history analyses. Comparisons with structures designed using traditional force-based methods demonstrate that the proposed approach predicts seismic response more accurately, improves overall performance, and reduces structural damage.
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