R.C.C Shear Wall Structure

What is a Shear Wall?

A shear wall is a structural panel that acts as a resistance to lateral forces acting on it. A shear wall structure is very important for buildings, especially high-rise, multi-storyed buildings and the ones located in places where there is a lot of wind. The forces that are parallel to the building’s plane such as wind or seismic loads can push over the parallel structural panels if there are no perpendicular shear walls to protect them. When the shear wall structure fails, the parallel structural panels may move in different directions resulting in disasters. The shear walls in any structure are built mainly using concrete. 

There is a structure that needs to be followed when installing the shear walls. They are positioned at the edges of a building, also called perimeter walls. You may form a shear core in the centre of a building, typically where there is a lift because the lift is ideally located at the centre of a building. 

People can use steel-braced framed shear walls, Plywood shear walls, reinforced concrete shear walls, and Mid-Ply shear walls for their buildings to resist the shear forces due to wind and seismic forces. The cost varies on the materials used to build the shear walls. We are going to focus on the reinforced concrete shear walls in this blog. 

R.C.C Shear Walls

Reinforced concrete cement shear walls are the most common type of shear walls installed in high-rise buildings located in seismic areas. This is because the material has high strength, stiffness, and ductility. Optimal stiffness is important for shear walls to bear the lateral forces of wind or seismic events. Installing sheer walls in multi-storey buildings, it is always observed to be effective in amplifying the overall seismic response and characteristics of the building. An R.C.C shear wall should be a minimum of 150mm thickness. The shear wall bears a tremendous load-bearing capacity but if they are not installed properly, the load-bearing capacity of the shear walls may decrease if the building sees any movement due to wind or seismic forces.  

The advantages of an R.C.C shear wall structure are listed below.

• The size of the column of the shear wall is reduced because concrete is stronger than most materials in nature. 
• The construction of a building is finished in a shorter period of time if R.C.C shear wall structure is used.
• It is stronger and can hold the building together in the event of an earthquake as shear walls act as one of the primary supporting structures of a building. 
• The cost of construction is less in comparison to shear walls that are not reinforced. 
• The size of the reinforced frame column can be changed depending on the floor plan.
• More carpet area is accessible because R.C.C shear wall structure is stronger in nature. Thus, the walls need not be as thick as plywood shear walls or mid-ply shear walls. 

High-rise luxury buildings by Lansum Properties like Lansum Oxygen Towers and Lansum El Dorado make sure that their residents have the best living experience by using only the best raw materials, the best people of expertise, and the best cutting edge technology. The R.C.C shear wall structure in Oxygen Towers and El Dorado are best designed to withstand a humongous force and still stand strong. To know more about Lansum Properties, visit here.