Application of FEMA methodology to RC shear wall buildings governed by flexure

New performance evaluation techniques have recently been developed as part of the SAC Joint Venture. FEMA 355F describes a new state-of-the-art method for the performance prediction of steel moment-frame buildings excited by earthquake ground motions. The goal of this study was to apply the performance based evaluation framework to the RC shear wall buildings designed under current codes and standards of practice, and to assess the performance of the buildings. Prototype buildings were selected and designed for three-, nine-, and twelve-stories. The prototype buildings consist of RC shear walls for lateral load resistance and a flat plate floor system for gravity loads. Various parameters needed to be newly derived for RC shear wall buildings because the object of the SAC project was the steel moment-frame building. As the basis of performance, global and local collapses for prototype buildings have been defined, and a damage measure has as well. The results showed the FEMA approach can also be useful for RC shear wall buildings. Furthermore, the determined confidence levels revealed that some specifications related to seismic details in current codes are reasonable based on the target performance in the SAC project.