Coupling beams in shear walls can be modeled using Frame elements or Wall elements. There are three main categories for shear wall modeling:
- Deep coupling panels
- Slender coupling beams
- Moderately deep coupling beams
Deep coupling panels
Deep coupling panels are most likely to be controlled by shear. See Figure 1 below for typical panel configurations.
Figure 1: Deep Coupling Panels
Points to consider
In Figure 1(a) the panel can be modeled using a single wall element. In Figures 1(b) and 1(c) the panel can be modeled using one or two wall elements.
With the models in Figure 1(a) and 1(c), the shear strain in the wall element can be used as the demand-capacity measure. For the model in Figure 1(b) it may be necessary to use a Shear Strain Gage element that covers both wall elements.
The wall elements also have axial and bending stiffnesses, in the vertical and horizontal directions. For vertical axial and bending effects it should be reasonable to use an elastic cross section. For horizontal axial and bending effects, the cross section is automatically elastic,
Slender coupling beams
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Moderately deep coupling beams
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