Pushover Analysis of Slip formed Load Bearing Wall Panels

The slip formed load bearing wall panel constructing method is very effective in terms of cost and speed of construction. Moreover, it is environmentally friendly, because no river sand is used. In addition, different mix proportions of material give different load bearing capabilities. This method has already been successfully implemented in many medium rise buildings in Sri Lanka. However they were not designed for earthquake loads. Therefore many such structures are susceptible to damage under possible effects of small to moderate earthquakes. This will have huge economic impact in countries like Sri Lanka. Pushover analysis method can be used to study the seismic resistance capacity of structures. This paper discusses seismic resistance capacity of slip formed load bearing wall panels using pushover analysis. The wall panel was modelled using finite element method. Pushover analyses were conducted to examine the behavior of such structures under different boundary conditions. The variation of failure stresses in each node of the finite element model was examined with the help of Rankin failure criterion. The use of Rankin failure criterion is justified since the wall panel materials display brittle behavior. The analytical results showed that the wall panel constructed by this method shows different resistance against earthquake loadings when different material propositions are used.