Analysis of interaction between reinforced concrete walls and slabs tested on a shaking table

Isaković, Tatjana (author), Janevski, Antonio (author)

An analysis of the interaction between reinforced concrete walls and slabs tested on the shaking table was performed. The tested structure consisted of four walls connected by three slabs without coupling beams. Although these walls would be typically considered cantilever walls, significant coupling was observed, resulting in considerably different response mechanisms than those observed for typical cantilever walls. As observed in past earthquakes, these unexpected response mechanisms can cause walls' brittle failure. Numerical analyses were performed to study the critical parameters causing the observed response. The response was primarily influenced by the considerable slabs' effective width (EW), significantly affecting the walls' and slabs' strength ratio. Owing to the large EW, the slabs' strength was threefold larger than the standard value typically considered in the design. The slabs provided considerable coupling (CL) of walls, significantly increasing the total stiffness and the total base shear (BS) of the structure compared to standard cantilever walls. Owing to the increased BS and redistribution of the demand between wall piers caused by large CL, the maximum shear forces in the piers were more than doubled than that observed in the cantilever walls. The compression axial forces in piers were also considerably increased, causing the buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement.

• Language: English
• Keywords: engineering structures, earthquake engineering, slab-to-wall interaction, shaking table test, reinforced concrete cantilever walls, reinforced concrete coupled walls, coupling level, frame action
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FGG - Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 433–460
• Numbering: Vol. 24, iss. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177810
• UDC: 624.042.7
• ISSN on article: 1570-761X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10518-024-01862-8
• COBISS.SI-ID: 183732227
• Publication date in RUL: 08.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bulletin of earthquake engineering
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 1570-761X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 897639

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: gradbene konstrukcije, potresno inženirstvo

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020
• Project number: 730900
• Name: Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe
• Acronym: SERA

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency