Tension softening effects on the buckling behavior of slender concrete wall panels

This paper summarizes the main findings of experimental and computational investigations on the behavior of traditional, centrally reinforced, slender concrete panels. The results support historical research, demonstrating that slender reinforced concrete walls have load capacities far in excess of the estimates based on current design guidelines. Testing was focused on the buckling response of pre-cracked elements, in order to better understand the effects of the tension softening phenomenon on the ultimate load. A worryingly brittle failure was observed in the experimental campaign, questioning the appropriateness of such panels in construction. A layered finite element model, with lumped plasticity at the critical cross section, has been utilized to simulate the buckling response of slender walls, providing comparable results to currently published experimental data. Being able to capture the main geometrical and material nonlinearities, this computational strategy emerges as a viable alternative to traditional design equations. Further experimental testing is however required for validation purposes.