Universitätsbibliothek
Weimar Open Access

Samira Marzban, Jochen Schwarz

• Civil engineers take advantage of models to design reliable structures. In order to fulfill the design goal with a certain amount of confidence, the utilized models should be able to predict the probable structural behavior under the expected loading schemes. Therefore, a major challenge is to find models which provide less uncertain and more robust responses. The problem gets even twofold whenCivil engineers take advantage of models to design reliable structures. In order to fulfill the design goal with a certain amount of confidence, the utilized models should be able to predict the probable structural behavior under the expected loading schemes. Therefore, a major challenge is to find models which provide less uncertain and more robust responses. The problem gets even twofold when the model to be studied is a global model comprised of different interacting partial models. This study aims at model quality evaluation of global models with a focus on frame-wall systems as the case study. The paper, presents the results of the first step taken toward accomplishing this goal. To start the model quality evaluation of the global frame-wall system, the main element (i.e. the wall) was studied through nonlinear static and dynamic analysis using two different modeling approaches. The two selected models included the fiber section model and the Multiple-Vertical-Line-Element-Model (MVLEM). The influence of the wall aspect ratio (H=L) and the axial load on the response of the models was studied. The results from nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of both models are presented and compared. The models resulted in quite different responses in the range of low aspect ratio walls under large axial loads due to different contribution of the shear deformations to the top displacement. In the studied cases, the results implied that careful attention should be paid to the model quality evaluation of the wall models specifically when they are supposed to be coupled to other partial models such as a moment frame or a soil-footing substructure which their response is sensitive to shear deformations. In this case, even a high quality wall model would not result in a high quality coupled system since it fails to interact properly with the rest of the system.…