Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Engineering Failure Analysis journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal Effect of shear wall on seismic performance of RC frame buildings Tulay Aksu Ozkul a , Ahmet Kurtbeyoglu b , Muzaffer Borekci c, ⁎ , Basak Zengin d , Ali Kocak c a Istanbul Technical University, Ayazaga Campus, Department of Civil Engineering, 34469, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey b Marmara District, Hurriyet Street, No: 5C/1, Beylikduzu, Istanbul, Turkey c Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa Campus, Department of Civil Engineering, 34220, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey d Istanbul Sehir University, Dragos Campus, Vocational School, Construction Technology 34865, Kartal, Istanbul, Turkey ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Earthquake damage RC buildings Shear walls Nonlinear time history analysis ABSTRACT Buildings can have heavy damages or collapse because of severe earthquakes. Previous studies showed that structural damage due to earthquake is the cause of large displacement. Shear walls in the buildings ensure safety against lateral loads. Thus, using shear walls in buildings can be prevent large displacement and herewith damages due to displacement. The last devastating earthquake is Van 2011 earthquake in Turkey and many buildings were damaged because of Van 2011 earthquake. There were buildings which have shear walls among those damaged buildings. However, it is clear not only shear walls but also whole building should be designed according to a modern seismic code. In this study, two RC buildings with shear walls which had damages because of Van 2011 earthquake were considered and it is tried to determine the existing da- mages via nonlinear time history analysis using Van 2011 earthquake acceleration data. Time history analyses were conducted with SAP 2000. In addition to this, material qualities were increased and shear walls were designed according to Turkish Seismic Code 2007 requirements for both buildings. Nonlinear time history analyses were conducted for the upgraded buildings and damage distributions were determined. Thus, damage distributions of existing and upgraded buildings were compared and an evaluation was drawn for damage distribution even if only proper concrete and reinforced material and shear walls were used in design of the buildings except beams and columns. According to results of the study, using proper materials and shear walls can prevent heavy damages even seismic response of beams and columns elements is poor. 1. Introduction Turkey is one of the most earthquake –prone areas in the world. A lot of severe earthquakes occurred in Turkey (1992 Erzincan, 1999 Kocaeli, 1999 Duzce, 2003 Bingol and 2011 Van Earthquakes etc.) and many buildings collapsed and damaged because of low quality construction and a lot of people were killed. Van 2011 earthquake is the last devastating earthquake in Turkey with 7.2 magnitude. The maximum measured peak ground acceleration is 0.18 g for Van 2011 earthquake. A lot of buildings were damaged because of Van 2011 earthquake ranging from minor cracking in brick partician walls to total collapse. According to observation after Van 2011 earthquake, RC buildings heavily damaged or collapsed and damages localized in ground-story columns attributable to soft story and damages include plastic hinge in columns attributable to stiffer beams and shear failure of columns attributable to short https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.02.032 Received 10 November 2017; Received in revised form 30 January 2019; Accepted 14 February 2019 ⁎ Correspondig author. E-mail addresses: taksu@itu.edu.tr (T.A. Ozkul), mborekci@inm.yildiz.edu.tr (M. Borekci), basakzengin@sehir.edu.tr (B. Zengin), akocak@yildiz.edu.tr (A. Kocak). Engineering Failure Analysis 100 (2019) 60–75 Available online 22 February 2019 1350-6307/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T