ABSTRACT
The 1985 Chile earthquake provided a rare opportunity to study the seismic response of reinforced concrete structural wall buildings. Most of the reinforced concrete residential buildings relied on structural walls to resist vertical and lateral loads. However, the walls did not have the reinforcement details required in current U.S. codes to ensure ductile response. A survey of damage following the earthquake indicated that most of these buildings sustained no structural damage. Analyses of the buildings indicated that the structural walls provided sufficient stiffness to limit the earthquake damage. Rela tionships between the amount of wall area provided in a building and the expected displacement during an earthquake are discussed.
