Ultra-High Performance Concrete Shear Walls in Tall Buildings

Abstract

This thesis presents the results of an effort to quantify the implications of using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) for shear walls in tall buildings considering structural efficiency and environmental sustainability. The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) was used to simulate the response to failure of concrete shear walls without web steel bar reinforcement under lateral loading and constant axial compressive loading. The structural efficiency of UHPC with simulated compressive strength of f'c = 231 MPa was compared to that of a high-performance concrete (HPC) with f'c = 51.7 MPa simulated compressive strength. UHPC shear walls were found to have equal uncracked stiffness and superior post-cracking capacity at a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, and at 59% of the HPC shear wall weight. Next, the environmental sustainability of UHPC with compressive strength f'c = 220-240 MPa was compared to that of an HPC with compressive strength f'c = 49 MPa with a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach, using SimaPro sustainability software. At a thickness 58% of the HPC shear wall thickness, UHPC shear walls with 0% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 6% to 10% worse than that of HPC shear walls, and UHPC shear walls with 2% fiber by volume were found to have an environmental impact 47% to 58% worse than that of HPC shear walls. The results detailed herein will allow for design guidelines to be developed which take advantage of UHPC response in shear. Additionally, this work may be implemented into topology optimization frameworks that incorporate the potential improvements in structural efficiency and sustainability through using UHPC.