Use of Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall in Resisting Lateral Forces : A Review

Earthquake creates a series of waves causing disturbance originating from fixed point called epicenter and travelling in all direction. These waves have higher intensity near source and it goes on decreasing away from the source of origin. These waves cause momentary forces in structural components. Conventional structures are more susceptible to damage to such forces whereas the structures constructed with a provision of shear wall undergo less damage. Shear walls resist seismic forces along its plane and are effectively used from past few decades to resist lateral forces originating from earthquake or wind. Shear walled structures have shown excellent performance during past earthquake with minor damage, less distortion, and overall better resistance to wind and earthquake forces as compared to conventional framed structure. This has been observed in earthquakes in Mexico City in 1965, Romania in 1977, Chile in 1985, America in 1988 and many others. This paper presents a review of lateral load resisting mechanism of shear wall used in reinforced concrete structures. It also highlights the strength and change in stiffness of solid shear walls and shear wall with openings.