College - Author 1

College of Architecture and Environmental Design

Department - Author 1

Architectural Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Architectural Engineering

Date

12-2021

Primary Advisor

John Lawson, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Architectural Engineering Department

Abstract/Summary

The 1980 slender wall testing was performed by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) in efforts to analyze behavior of concrete slender walls when lateral and eccentric axial loads are applied. The testing was done with 12 tilt-up wall panels, 3 of each of the four thicknesses: 9 ½”, 7 ¼”, 5 ¾”, and 4 ¾”. What was discovered from testing was that a fixed limitation of height to thickness ratio was not a governing factor and that each case should be analyzed based off the strength and deflection of the wall. It was because of this testing that ACI soon after adopted these provisions. Section 11.8 - Alternative method for out-of-plane slender wall analysis discusses the design of slender walls allowing for very thin walls as long as they are not heavily loaded. As technology “advances”, software programs and modules are being developed to “improve” and potentially “outsmart” ACI 318 provisions. There has been a real concern circulating within the engineering community that some of these said software programs that newer engineers are depending on, aren’t agreeing with original experimental testing and could pose safety issues to designs. This report discusses the original testing that was performed by SEAOSC, ACI provisions, and efforts to duplicate full-scale testing results and understand which assumptions within the programs cause results to differ.

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