Seismic shear distribution among interconnected cantilever walls of different lengths

Mid- to high-rise buildings in seismic areas are often braced by slender reinforced concrete (RC) walls, which are interconnected by RC floor diaphragms. In design it is typically assumed that the lateral forces are distributed in proportion to the wall’s elastic stiffness. Pushover analyses of systems comprising walls of different lengths have, however, shown that large compatibility forces can develop between them, which should be considered in design, but the analyses have also shown that the magnitude of the computed forces is very sensitive to the modelling assumptions. Using the results of a complex shell element model as benchmark, different simple hand calculation methods and inelastic beam element models are assessed and improved to yield reliable estimates of the base shear distribution among the individual walls comprising the interconnected wall system.