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Overturning resistance of concrete curved walls manufactured with additive construction

Abstract:

This paper investigates the overturning response of simply supported concrete curved walls manufactured with additive construction. An analytical approach is developed by evaluating the equilibrium state of the walls, and a numerical model is also built based on the finite element method to determine the overturning resistance of the walls. The stability of the walls is investigated by considering various curvatures, projected lengths, and cross-sections (uniform and tapered). Experimental tests were also conducted using a scaled model of the walls with the design of experiment techniques. Furthermore, the most influential geometric parameters in the stability of curved walls were examined, and the results were compared to those of equivalent straight walls. The results showed that in most cases, the curved walls with uniform and tapered sections can attain a sixfold increase in the overturning resistance in comparison to straight walls, enabling significant material savings of up to 37 % for some configurations with the same length. In addition, the wall curvature was the most influential parameter in the overturning resistance. Finally, a decrease in the top thickness of curved tapered walls, with a tapered shape, led to an even greater optimization of the material while displaying an increased overturning resistance compared to equivalent straight walls.