European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.51 No.3 (2011), pp.359-371 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.

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Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

Muhammed Abbas Husain Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Tikrit University, Iraq E-mail: mhmdsamarraiy@yahoo.com Abstract The box system structure that consists only of reinforced concrete walls and slabs is recently used in high rise apartment buildings. Due to functional requirements such as doors, windows, and other openings, a shear wall in a building contains many openings. Some researches on the analysis of shear wall with openings were performed, but the analysis using a three dimensional element (or brick element), which are used for modeling the three dimensional structures, did not used in previous researches. This paper presents the elastic analysis of shear wall with openings using brick element. Three models of shear walls with various opening size were carried out using brick elements to investigate the effect of the openings on the behavior of the shear wall. Also three models of shear walls with openings of various locations were carried out to study the effect of opening locations. In order to compare the analyses results, a shell element, which is commonly used in modeling the shear walls, has been used to simulate each of these six models. The method used in this paper gave an accurate analysis for the shear walls with openings, and presented a study of the effect of opening locations on the behavior of shear wall.

Keywords: Shear wall with openings; Brick element

1. Introduction
The box system structure which consists only of reinforced concrete walls and slabs is recently used in high rise apartment buildings. Due to functional requirements such as doors ,windows, and other openings, a shear wall in a building contains many openings. The finite element method is considered to be one of the most methods that used to solve this problem. Therefore, much research in analyses of shear wall with openings has been undertaken [1-5]. Also, framed structures with shear wall cores which contain openings has been undertaken by previous research [6-9]. In this study, ideal finite element models were developed using brick element by using SAP2000 Version 12 [10]. SAP2000 has several element types to simulate the shear wall behavior. But among those, four - node shell element and brick element were selected for the ideal model as they have the capability to simulate the shear wall. The shell element was selected for comparison with the using of brick element since the shell element is usually used for modeling the shear walls by the researchers. The eight - node brick element was selected in this study to simulate the shear wall behavior since the brick element is used for modeling the three dimensional structures. Also, the effect of opening locations in shear wall has been studied.

Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

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The shell element in SAP2000 called area element, while the brick element in SAP2000 is called solid element.

2. Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings

In this section, the plane stress elements for the analysis of shear walls are presented, and also the analysis method proposed by Choi and Bang [3] were discussed. 2.1. Finite Elements for Analysis of Shear Wall The four - node element which has two translational degrees of freedom per node as shown in Fig. 1(a) is commonly used for the analysis of shear wall systems [11].
Figure 1: Plane stress element for shear wall

Because displacement shape functions of this element are expressed in linear functions, deformation of element edges can be expressed by straight lines and the shear stresses in an element are constant and cannot represent the actual stress distribution accurately if the finite element mesh is not fine. Also it is not easy to connect this element with beam elements because the drilling degrees of freedom do not exist. Therefore, the 12 degrees of freedom plane stress element (Lee element) [12] with drilling degrees of freedom as shown in Fig. 1(b) was used by Kim and Lee [1] to solve this problem. 2.2. Previous studies on the analysis of shear wall with opening The analysis method proposed by Choi and Bang [3] is one of the most efficient methods among previous research about the analysis of shear wall with openings. A simple rectangular element was proposed in their research. The stiffness matrix of this plane stress element with openings was derived as illustrated in Fig. 2.
Figure 2: Composing stiffness matrix of plane stress element with openings

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The stiffness matrix of a plane stress element with openings (Kc) is obtained by subtracting the stiffness matrix of the plane stress element without openings (K0) using equations (1) and (2). But there is a difference in the formulation procedures for K0 and K1. The general procedure for the stiffness matrix of a plane stress element is used to obtain K1.
K 0 = t B T E B J d d
1 1

(1) (2)

K1 = t BT EB J d d
b1 a1

11 b 2a 2

In the case of K0, the possible nonconforming displacement modes are added to the element by modifying the shape function and then addition a degrees of freedom due to the addition of nonconforming modes are eliminated by the static condensation. Lateral displacements of the model of Choi and Bang were similar to those of a fine mesh model when the opening was small, but the error in lateral displacements tended to increase as the opening became larger. Also stress concentrations at the corners of the opening could not be represented. Kim and Lee [1] proposed an efficient analysis method for the analysis of shear wall with openings using super elements derived by introducing fictitious beams. For the efficiency in the analysis, the stiffness matrix of a super element was developed. The number of nodes in a super element is identical to that of a conventional plane stress element . This procedure was represented using the matrix form in equations (3) and (4). The static equilibrium equation for a super element has been rearranged by separating the degrees of freedom for the corners from those for the inner area of a super element as follows; Sii S ic Di Ai (3) S = ci Scc Dc Ac Where subscripts i and c represent the inner area and corners of a super element respectively. Eliminating the degrees of freedom for the inner area by matrix condensation, the static equilibrium equation can be represented for the degrees of freedom only at the corners only as follows; * * (4) S cc { Dc } = { Ac } Where,

{ A } = { A } [ S ][ S ] { A } {S } = {S } [ S ][ S ] {S }
* c c ci ii i * cc 1 cc ci ii ic
* cc

, and

The matrix S is the stiffness matrix for the super element having nodes only at corners of a shear wall and Eq. (4) is the equilibrium equation for a super element. The compatibility condition at boundaries of super elements has been enforced by using fictitious beams to improve the efficiency in the analysis without using nodes at the interfaces of super elements.

3. Modeling of Shear Wall Using Brick Element

The brick element used in this study is an eight node element. The brick element is used for modeling three dimensional structures. Since the shear wall is a three dimensional structure , the brick element may give an accurate simulation for the behavior of it. This type of element based upon isoparametric formulation that includes nine optional incompatible bending modes [10] . The solid element activates the three translational degrees of freedom at each node of its connected joints. Rotational degrees of freedom are not activated. Fig. 3 shows a typical eight node brick element.

Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

Figure 3: Typical eight node brick element

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4. Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings Using Brick Element

4.1. Convergence Study A convergence study was first carried out for a shear wall without openings subjected to point load of 2 lbs as shown in the Fig. 4
Figure 4: The shear wall used for convergence study of first numerical example
10 in.

A
2 lbs

thickness of wall = 1 inch E = 3 106 psi

wall

30 in.

=0 B

The shear wall was modeled by four different mesh sizes of shell elements and again by four different mesh sizes of brick elements. The convergence study showed that an element size of (0.5 inch 0.5 inch ) for shell element , and (0.5 inch 0.5 inch 1 inch ) for brick element gave an accurate representations of displacements and stresses in shear wall. The lateral displacements at point A, and the maximum stresses at point B for each mesh size are given in Table 1, and Table 2 respectively .

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Table 1:

Muhammed Abbas Husain

Lateral displacements and maximum stresses for the shear wall in Fig. 4 using shell element
Stress (psi)
3.55 3.62 3.78 3.90

Displacement (inch 10-5)

7.579 7.594 7.616 7.622

Mesh size (inch inch )

2.5 2.5 22 11 0.5 0.5

Table 2:

Lateral displacements and maximum stresses for the shear wall in Fig. 4 using brick element
Stress (psi)
3.56 3.62 3.78 3.90

Displacement (inch 10-5)

7.582 7.596 7.617 7.622

Mesh size (inch inch inch )

2.5 2.5 1 221 111 0.5 0.5 1

4.2. Numerical Example The example shear wall adopted from the work by Choi and Bang is a three story shear wall has square window type openings. The description of the shear wall is shown in Fig. 5. The openings centers were considered at the centers of stories.
Figure 5: Shear wall with window type openings
10 in.

A
2 lbs

thickness of wall = 1 inch

3@10 in.

E = 3 106 psi

V=0

Analysis was performed for the cases of opening size : a = 1 inch, a = 3 inches, and a = 5 inches. For each of these cases, two models of finite elements were used, the first was a model using shell element , Fig. 6 , and the second was a model using brick element , Fig. 7 .
Figure 6: Shell element models for shear wall with window type openings

Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

Figure 7: Brick element models for shear wall with window type openings

364

Table 3 shows the lateral displacements at the point A and the maximum stresses at the point B for shell element models and brick element models.
Table 3: Lateral displacements and maximum stresses for the shear wall with window type opening
Model Shell element Brick element Shell element Brick element Shell element Brick element Displacement (inch10-5) 7.664 7.665 8.314 8.318 10.000 10.000 Stress (psi) 3.912 3.918 4.112 4.118 5.166 5.174

Opening size a = 1 inch a = 3 inches a = 5 inches

As noticed from Table 3, the values of displacements for brick element models were very close to those of shell element models, while the values of stresses for brick element models were slightly larger than those of shell element models. The comparison between the results of lateral displacements for the brick element models with the plate element model adopted from the work of Choi and Bang , and the super element models adopted from the work of Kim and Lee can be shown in Fig. 8 , Fig. 9 , and Fig. 10.
Figure 8: Displacements for shear wall with 1 inch opening size

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Muhammed Abbas Husain

Figure 9: Displacements for shear wall with 3 inch opening size

Figure 10: Displacements for shear wall with 5 inch opening size

As shown in Fig. 8 , the lateral displacements along the height of the shear wall obtained from the brick element model were very close to those obtained from the plate element method, while the super element model gave larger displacements. If the opening was larger , Fig. 9, the lateral displacements of the three models were approximately identical. As the opening becomes larger , Fig. 10, the lateral displacements obtained from brick element model were larger than those of the two other models at the opening elevations. The largest displacement was significantly seen at the center level of the upper opening. The maximum stress distribution for the brick element models are shown in Fig.11.

Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

Figure 11: Stress distribution for shear wall with window type openings

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(a) without opening

(b) opening size of 1 inch

(c) opening size of 3 inches

(d) opening size of 5 inches

The maximum value of stress occurs at the base of the shear wall (point B in Fig.5 ). This stress was increased as the opening becomes larger.

5. Effect of Location of Openings in Shear Wall

The choice of location of the openings in the shear wall for the designers is very important because the values of internal stresses and displacements for the shear wall are affected by the location of openings. To study the effect of the location of the openings in the shear wall, a shear wall of seven stories with door type openings has been modeled by brick elements.
5.1. Convergence Study A convergence study was first carried out for a shear wall without openings subjected to point load of 2 kips as shown in the Fig.12.

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Muhammed Abbas Husain

Figure 12: The shear wall used for convergence study of second numerical example
18 ft 2 kips

wall
thickness of wall = 1 ft E = 3.3 106 psi =0

84 ft

The shear wall was modeled by four different mesh sizes of shell elements and again by four different mesh sizes of brick elements. The convergence study showed that an element size of (0.5 ft 0.5 ft ) for shell element , and (0.5 ft 0.5 ft 1 ft ) for brick element gave an accurate representations of displacements and stresses in shear wall. The lateral displacements at point A, and the maximum stresses at point B for each mesh size are given in Table 4 ,and Table 5 respectively .
Table 4: Lateral displacements and maximum stresses for the shear wall in Fig. 12 using shell element
Mesh size (ft ft ) 2.5 2.5 22 11 0.5 0.5 Displacement (inch ) 0.0210 0.0210 0.0211 0.0211 Stress (psi) 20.8 22.21 22.70 23.07

Table 5:

Lateral displacements and maximum stresses for the shear wall in Fig. 12 using brick element
Displacement (inch ) 0.0210 0.0210 0.0211 0.0211 Stress (psi) 21.88 22.24 22.72 23.09

Mesh size (ft ft ft ) 2.5 2.5 1 221 111 0.5 0.5 1

5.2. Numerical Example The example shear wall is a seven story shear wall has door type openings. The description of the shear wall is shown in Fig.(13). Three cases have been considered in this shear wall. The first case is a shear wall with door openings vertically allocated to the left side. The second case is a shear wall with door openings vertically allocated at the vertical center line of the shear wall. The third case is a shear wall with door openings vertically allocated to the right side. The distance e (between the vertical center line of the shear wall and that of the opening ) has been taken as 6.5 ft to the right and to the left of the center line for the first and the third case respectively, while the distance e was zero for the second case. Also the door opening dimensions was (3ft width 7ft height ).

Analysis of Shear Wall with Openings using Brick Element

Figure 13: Shear wall with door type openings
18 ft 2 kips

368

84 ft

thickness of wall = 1 ft E = 3.3 106 psi =0

B e For each of these cases, two models of finite elements were used, the first was a model using shell element , Fig. 14, and the second was a model using brick element , Fig. 15.
Figure 14: Shell element model for shear wall with door type openings

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Figure 15: Brick element model for shear wall with door type openings

Table 6 shows the lateral displacements at the point A and the maximum stresses at the point B for shell element models and brick element models.
Table 6: Lateral displacements at the point A and the maximum stresses at the point B for shell element models and brick element models for the shear walls with door type openings .
Case
Left opening Middle opening Right opening

Model
Shell element Brick element Shell element Brick element Shell element Brick element

Displacement (inches)
0.0294 0.0295 0.0221 0.0221 0.0294 0.0295

Stress (psi)
40.53 40.55 25.46 25.49 29.01 29.12

As noticed from Table 6, the values of displacements for brick element models were very close to those of shell element models, while the values of stresses for brick element models were slightly larger than those of shell element models. The comparison between the results of lateral displacements for the brick element models for the three cases can be shown in Fig. 16.
Figure 16: Displacements for shear wall with door type openings

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370

As shown in Fig. 16 , the lateral displacements along the height of the shear wall obtained from the brick element model for the center opening case were smaller than those obtained from the left and right opening cases. Also it can be noticed that the results of displacements for the left and the right opening cases were very close. The maximum stress distribution for the brick element models are shown in Fig.17. The maximum stresses at the base of the wall obtained from the shear wall with left door openings were the largest compared with those of middle and right door openings.
Figure 17: Stress distribution for shear wall with door type openings

6. Conclusions
This paper has presented the analysis of shear wall with openings using the brick element. Also the effect of the openings location has been studied. The efficiency of this proposed analysis were investigated by performing analysis of various example structures. The major observations are summarized as follows: 1. The lateral displacements of the model using a brick elements were very close to those of a shell element model. 2. The maximum stresses obtained from the brick element method were slightly larger than those of shell element model. 3. The error in lateral displacements obtained from the brick element model with those of plate element and super element models increased for the large openings. 4. As the openings along the shear wall were close to the center line (or middle ) of the shear wall, the lateral displacements and the maximum stresses at the base became smaller.

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Muhammed Abbas Husain Kim HS, Lee DG. Analysis of shear wall with openings using super elements. Engineering Structures 2003;25:981-991. Amaruddin M. In-plane stiffness of shear walls with openings. Building and Environment 1999;34:109-27. Choi CK, Bang MS. Plate element with cutout for perforated shear wall. Journal of Structural Engineering 1987;133(2):295-306. Tham LG, Cheung YK. Approximate analysis of shear wall assemblies with openings. The Structural Engineer 1983;61B(2):41-5. Ali R, Atwall SJ. Prediction of natural frequencies of vibration of rectangular plates with rectangular cutouts. Computers and Structures 1980;12:819-23. Choi CK, Lee PS, Park YM. Defect-free 4-node flat shell element: NMS-4F element. Structural Engineering and Mechanics 1999;8(2):207-31. Ibrahimbegovic A, Taylor RL, Wilson EL. A robust quadrilateral membrane finite element with drilling degrees of freedom. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering 1990;30:445-57. Thomas H. On drilling degrees of freedom. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 1989;72:105-21. Weaver Jr. W, Lee DG, Derbalian G. Finite Elements for Shear walls in multistory frames. Journal of the Structural Divisions ASCE 1981;107:1365-9. CSI Analysis Reference Manual for SAP2000. Berkeley ,USA, 2008. Weaver Jr. W, Jhonson PR. Structural Dynamics by Finite Elements. Prentice Hall, 1987. Lee DG. An efficient element for analysis of frames with shear walls, ICES88, Atlanta, GA, April, 1987.

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