Evaluation of the Response of Shear Critical Walls Using a Three-Parameter Kinematic Theory

This paper discusses a newly developed three-parameter kinematic theory (3PKT) for shear critical walls with the help of four wall tests. The 3PKT is used to predict the pre- and post- peak response of the test units. Comparisons are performed with finite element (FE) models and plastic hinge models in combination with a shear degradation model. It is found that the latter underestimate the displacement capacity of the walls while the former do not predict well the post-peak response. The 3PKT with only three degrees of freedom captures the complete response of the walls provided that the size of the critical loading zone (CLZ) of the wall is well predicted.