Displacement behaviour of reinforced concrete walls in regions of lower seismicity

This thesis aims to improve the seismic design and detailing of reinforced concrete (RC) wall buildings in regions of lower seismicity (e.g. Australia) by better understanding the displacement behaviour under extreme loading. Buildings are traditionally designed for lateral loads (e.g. wind or earthquake actions) using strength as the primary assessment criteria. However, a more realistic and accurate assessment can be determined by considering the maximum displacement capacity of the building before collapse. The objective of this dissertation is to assess the displacement behaviour of RC walls and to develop a simplified model for predicting their maximum displacement capacity.