PLATE ELEMENT WITH CUTOUT FOR PERFORATED

SHEAR WALL

By Chang-Koon Choi, 1 M . ASCE, a n d Myung-Suk Bang 2

ABSTRACT: A rectangular plate element with rectangular cutouts was devel-

oped. The stiffness matrix of the element is formed by numerical integration
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in which the region of the cutout in the element is excluded during the inte-
gration process. The behavior of the newly developed element is very good,
based upon comparisons with the results from a well-established finite element
program. This element can be used effectively and economically in the analysis
of perforated shear walls, especially in the analysis of the integrated behavior
of the entire structure.

INTRODUCTION

The shear wall-frame system is a frequently used structural scheme in

moderately tall buildings (e.g., 20-40 stories). The interaction between
the frame and the shear wall is well k n o w n (1,8), and the effectiveness
of this system is widely recognized for moderately tall frames. Various
techniques have been suggested in the analysis of this type of structure
(7,9,11). For a finite element analysis of this system, two types of ele-
ments, i.e., the b e a m / c o l u m n element and the plane stress element, are
commonly used in modeling the structure.
Generally, however, there exists a large discrepancy between the ac-
curacies obtainable with beam/column elements and with low-order plane
stress elements. While the element stiffness evaluation of the beam/col-
u m n element is based on reasonably accurate displacement a s s u m p -
tions, i.e., the cubic polynomial expansion, a four-noded plane stress
element is based on a rather rough approximation of the displacement
field in an element, e.g., a linear expression for in-plane behavior.
Therefore, to obtain an accuracy with a plane stress element that is close
to that of a beam element, the shear wall must be modeled using a rel-
atively fine mesh or using the higher order elements, e.g., six-noded
triangles or eight-noded rectangles [Fig. 1(a)].
The use of fine meshes is not desirable because: (1) The analysis with
a fine mesh substantially increases the computational cost; and (2) it is
inconvenient to use different grids for the shear wall and for the beam-
column frame in modeling the structure. The use of higher order ele-
ments allows the use of coarser meshes, but these still produce the sec-
ond problem. Because of the special characteristics of regular building
frames, i.e., the frame consists of m a n y vertical a n d horizontal members
of identical dimensions, it is desirable to model the shear wall of an
'Prof, of Civ. Ertgrg., Korea Advanced Inst, of Sci. and Tech., Seoul 131, Korea.
2
Grad. Asst, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Korea Advanced Inst, of Sci. and Tech.,
Seoul, Korea.
Note.—Discussion open until July 1, 1987. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manu-
script for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on Sep-
tember 17, 1984. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol.
113, No. 2, February, 1987. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/87/0002-0295/$01.00. Paper
No. 21258.

295

J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 Nodes
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mm fiinmiminifin
(o)

FIG. 1.—Models for Shear Wall-Frame System: (a) Refined Mesh; (to) Model with
Single Element per Story; (c) Model with Elements with Cutouts

entire story by a single story-deep and bay-wide plane stress element.

Now the entire shear wall-frame structure can be modeled using a uni-
form grid [Fig. 1(b)].
Furthermore, due to functional requirements such as windows, doors,
and other openings, a shear wall in a building frequently contains many
cutouts. The finite element method using a finer mesh may be used to
solve this problem. However, it is of particular interest to structural en-
gineers to model the shear wall with openings in the building with a
single four-corner-node element per story [Fig. 1(c)]. A plane stress ele-
ment that has a rectangular shape, four-corner nodes, and cutouts of
arbitrary shapes and that produces reasonable accuracy is needed.
Only a limited amount of published literature is available that relates
to this type of element (3,11). This study is concerned with the devel-
opment of a simple rectangular element with rectangular cutouts which
can be effectively used in the analysis of perforated shear walls. A series
of numerical examples was carried out to evaluate the behavior of the
newly developed element, and the results of the analysis are compared
with those obtained by using a fine mesh.

NUMERICALLY INTEGRATED ELEMENTS

Since the development of the new element in this study used the non-
conforming plate/shell element by Choi and Schnobrich (6) as the basis
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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 of the development, it is useful to review briefly numerically integrated
nonconforming elements to make the understanding of the element de-
veloped in this paper easier (12).
The isoparametric element was first modified for plate or shell analysis
by Ahmad and Irons (2). Due to the transverse displacement constraints,
this modified version of the isoparametric element, particularly the lin-
ear element, is still too stiff in flexure. This makes the use of this type
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of element uneconomical. Unless some artificial measures are taken to

soften the element, the 4-noded element is not suitable for practical use
when bending is significant. Choi and Schnobrich (6) modified the Ah-
mad-Irons element to reduce the excessive stiffness of the isoparametric
element by adding nonconforming displacement modes.
The possible nonconforming displacement modes to be added to the
linear element are defined by the following set of shape functions:
#, = ! - £ N2=1-TI2; N3 = t , ( l - g 2 ) ;
N4 = «1 - rf); N s = (1 - | 2 )(1 - T)2) (1)
The symbols used in this paper have the usual definitions and are listed
in Appendix III.
The first two modes are to eliminate the transverse displacement con-
straints, and the third and fourth modes contribute to the softening of
the twisting constraints. The fifth mode adds the bubble shape displace-
ment in the element.
The behavior of the element formed by adding various combinations
of nonconforming displacement modes was examined previously by Choi
and Schnobrich (6). They found that the addition of nonconforming modes
to the original isoparametric element gives generally markedly improved
results, i.e., approximately the same accuracy as that from a one-degree
higher-order element. The improvement incorporated into the four-noded
elements is so high that these elements, previously ignored, can be used
effectively.
The displacement field of the Ahmed-Irons element is expressed by
the equation
u "«i"
V = 2Nj Vi + ZN,^t,$, (2)
w W
. L
By adding the first two nonconforming modes in Eq. 1 uniformly to the
displacement components (u, v, and w) in Eq. 2, a general form of the
displacement field for a nonconforming element is expressed by

u "I «2
V = Eq. 2 + (1 --?) Vl + ( i -- T l 2 ) v2 (3)
w a>i w2
In this study, however, only the in-plane behavior of the element is con-
sidered. Therefore, the discussion on further improvement of the trans-
verse displacement component w of the element is beyond the scope of
this study.
The stiffness matrix of the element is formed through numerical in-
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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 tegration (Appendix I). The additional degrees-of-freedom due to the
addition of nonconforming modes can be eliminated by static conden-
sation.

FORMULATION OF A PLATE ELEMENT WITH CUTOUTS

The stiffness matrix of a plate element with cutouts is formed by mod-

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ifying the numerical integration process, i.e., the regions of the cutout
in the element are excluded during the integration. The stiffness of the
whole element and that of the portions occupied by the cutouts are cal-
culated separately. Then the stiffness of a plate element with cutouts is
obtained by subtracting the appropriate values of the latter from the cor-
responding values of the former quantity. Thus the stiffness matrix of
a solid plate element can be obtained by the integration of the following
equation over the entire region:

Kn BTDB|/|d€dTi (4)

where Ke0 is the enlarged element stiffness matrix and can be partitioned
as
Kcc KCN Uc Pc
(5)
KNC KNN UN 0
where subscripts C and N = the conforming and nonconforming parts,
respectively. The element stiffness matrix is finally given as
Ko = K cc ~ KCNIQNKCN (6)
The stiffness of the portion occupied by a cutout can be obtained by
the integration of Eq. 7 over the region of each cutout, e.g., ax to «2 and
b\ to b2 in the direction of £ and T\, respectively (Fig. 2).

FIG. 2.—Rectangular Plate with Rectangular Cutout

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 Thus, for the first cutout
"02 rh

J B r DB|/|#*ti

The enlarged Ki in Eq. 7 can b e condensed to Kt in a similar w a y to K 0

(7)

in Eq. 6.
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For the element s h o w n in Fig. 2, the stiffness matrix is obtained by

subtracting Ki from K0 giving
K = K0-K1 (8)
For the element which has several cutouts (K 2 , K3 . = the second
cutout, the third cutout, . . . ) the further cutouts are obtained in the same
way as K] for the first cutout. The final stiffness matrix is formed by
subtracting the summation of K a , K 2 , . . . from K0 as

K = K0-2K,. (9)

in which n = the n u m b e r of openings in an element.

Results of a series of numerical analyses carried out by using the pro-
gram written for this study to evaluate the behavior of the newly de-
veloped element are given in the next section.

NUMERICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1.—A shear wall consisting of three square plates with cut-
outs located at the element centers (ex = ey = 0) w a s first considered
(Fig. 3). The results, i.e., the horizontal displacement due to horizontal
load at A, were obtained b y using only three of the elements developed
in this study. They are given in Table 1 and s h o w n in Fig. 4 along with

b =o B E = 3 X I 0 6 psi
V=0
1.2* I = 1"
2 lbs
a/b = 0.5
"T*A
- t--t
\ a/b = 0.1
h=10
1 ? h

» U°*j
~ex
— i-- a h=b

SAP IV (flppr. 300 elements)

This study ( 3 elements)

in iimmiimiiiiiiii, ;; iilDhhMihfirrmrm 0 2 4 6 8 to 12
(a) (b) Displacements (inch x 10" 5 )

FIG. 3.—Shear Wall with Openings: (a) FIG. 4.—Lateral Deflections of Shear
This Study (Three Elements); (6) SAP Wall with Openings at Centers of Ele-
IV (Approximately 300 Elements) merits (Example 1)

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 TABLE 1.—Horizontal Displacement at B in Fig. 3 (ex = ey = 0)
SAP IV Comparison of
Cutout ratio Number of Deflection This study solutions
(a/b) elements (in. x icr 5 ) (in. x 1<T5) (Col. 4/Col. 3)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
0.5 225 10.3950 8.8952 0.856
8.2105 0.921
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0.4 252 8.9174

0.3 273 8.1545 7.9180 0.971
0.2 288 7.7835 7.7614 0.997
0.1 297 7.7349 7.7112 0.997

those obtained from using nearly 300 of an established finite element,

i.e., the element type No. 6 in SAP IV (4). Considering the very small
number of new elements used in this study, the results are very satis-
factory.
As the ratio of the size of cutouts to the size of element (a/b) de-
creases, the discrepancy between the results from the two methods de-
E = 3 X 106 psi
V=0
1 = 1"

-»-le.r""-

fff SAP IV(Appr. 300elements)

— This study (3 elements)

_l I I 1 I
77777777777777777777777777777777"
777777/ 77777777777777777777777777:
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
5
Displacements (inch x 10~ ) (a) (b)

FIG. 5.—Lateral Deflections of Shear FIG. 6.—Shear Wall with Openings at

Wall with Eccentrically Located Open- Bottom of Element: (a) This Study (Three
ings (Example 2) Elements); (h) SAP IV (Approximately
300 Elements)

TABLE 2.—Horizontal Displacement at B in Fig. 3 (ex = b/B, ey = h/8)

SAP IV
Comparison of
Cutout ratio Number of Deflection This study solutions
(a/b) elements (in. x 10^5) (in. x 10~5) (Col. 4/Col. 3)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
0.5 225 11.5432 10.3524 0.897
0.4 252 9.8584 8.9861 0.912
0.3 273 8.4129 8.2083 0.976
0.2 288 8.1021 7.9356 0.979
0.1 297 7.9024 7.8154 0.989

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 J'//
-h'/h = 0.6
•h'/h =0.2
, b t
// aUa—
ff — *-

i h
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h'

- H |—b/4
SAP IV (Appr. 300elements) • SAP IV (Appr. 300 elements)
— This study ( 3elements) • This study ( 3 elements)

0 2 4 6 8 K> 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Displacements (inch x 10~ 5 ) Displacements (inch xtO" 5 )

FIG. 7.—-Lateral Deflection of Shear Wall FIG. 8.—Lateral Displacement of Shear

with Openings at Bottom of Elements Wall with Eccentrically Located Bottom
(Example 3) Openings (Example 4)

creases. If the ratio a/b is less than 0.2, differences are negligible. Note
that when the cutout ratio a/b is greater than 0.5, the ratio A/B falls
below 90% and caution should be taken in using the new element for
this kind of problem.

TABLE 3.—Horizontal Displacement at B in Fig. 6 (ex = 0)

SAP IV
Comparison of
Number of Deflection This study solutions
h'/h elements (in. x 1CT5) (in. x 10"5) (Col. 4/Col. 3)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
(a) a/b = 0.1
0.1 297 7.6574 7.8478 1.025
0.2 294 7.7742 7.9561 1.023
0.3 291 7.8807 8.0541 1.022
0.4 288 8.0026 8.1627 1.020
0.5 285 8.1214 8.2676 1.018
0.6 282 8.2508 . 8.3746 1.015
0.7 279 8.3230 8.4312 1.013
(b) a/b = 0.2
0.2 ' 288 8.0433 8.3503 1.038
0.3 282 8.1543 8.4250 1.033
0.4 276 8.3096 8.5406 1.028
0.5 270 8.5261 8.6090 1.010
0.6 264 8.6358 8.6876 1.006
(c) a/b = 0.3
0.3 273 9.0021 8.9195 0.991
0.45 264 9.4265 9.2380 0.980
0.6 246 9.7866 9.4034 0.961
0.75 237 10.4212 9.5007 0.921

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 Example 2.—The difference between examples 1 and 2 is the cutout
locations. The centers of the cutouts in this example are located with
eccentricities of ex = b/8 a n d ey = h/8 from the centers of the elements
in the horizontal a n d the vertical directions, respectively (Fig. 3). In this
example, similar trends of results to those of example 1 are observed
(Table 2 and Fig. 5). In this case, the discrepancies between the two
solutions are slightly greater than those of example 1. The differences,
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however, are insignificant.

Example 3.—In this example, a square element with a rectangular cut-
out placed at the bottom of the element with no horizontal eccentricity
from the center line (ex = 0) is used (Fig. 6). This example could rep-
resent a shear wall with centrally placed door openings.
Various combinations of the aspect ratio of the openings and the ratio
of the width of opening to the horizontal dimension of the shear wall
(a/b) are considered. W h e n this ratio is relatively small, e.g., 10-20%,
the element from this study produced slightly larger deflections than
does SAP IV as s h o w n in Table 3 and Fig. 7. Note that as the aspect
ratio h'/h of opening increases, the difference between two models de-
creases for the cutout ratio a/b of u p to 20%.
For the ratio of a/b = 0.3, the SAP IV analysis gives again a little larger
deflection than this study. The difference, however, is not appreciable.
Example 4.—In this example, the opening is located at the bottom of
the element with an eccentricity of ex = b/4 from the center line of the

TABLE 4.—-Horizontal Displacement at B in Fig. 6 (ex = b/4)

SAP IV Comparison of
Number of Deflection This study solutions
h'/h elements (in. x 1CT5) (in. x 10"5) (Col. 4/Col. 3)
0) (2) (3) (4) (5)
(a) a/b = 0.1
0.1 297 7.9575 8.0276 1.008
0.2 294 8.0871 8.0952 1.001
0.3 291 8.1939 •8.1543 0.998
0.4 288 8.3093 8.2437 0.992
0.5 285 8.4827 8.3521 0.985
0.6 282 8.6234 8.4458 0.979
0.7 279 8.8458 8.5265 0.964
(b) a/b = 0.2
0.2 288 8.4699 8.4521 0.998
0.3 282 8.7368 8.5629 0.980
0.4 276 9.1625 8.9545 0.977
0.5 270 9.7718 9.3927 0.961
0.6 264 10.3148 9.8001 0.950
(c) a/b = 0.3
0.3 273 9.5201 9.4021 0.988
0.45 264 10.2310 9.8545 0.963
0.6 246 10.7739 10.0079 0.929
0.75 237 11.3938 10.2566 0.900

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

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2
{a) '(b) Displacements (inch x 10 )

FIG. 9.—Seven-Story Shear Wall with FIG. 10.~-Lateral Deflection of Shear

Multiple Openings: (a) This Study (Seven Wall with Two Identical Openings at
Elements); (b) SAP IV (840 Elements) Bottom of Elements (Example 5)

shear wall (Fig. 6). Similar trends of results to that of example 3 are
observed (Table 4 and Fig. 8). The eccentricity of the cutout in this par-
ticular example has the effect of a limited increase in the difference of
the results obtained from SAP IV and this study. Thus, it has been shown
that the cutouts can be located almost arbitrarily in the element.
Example 5.—A shear wall with multiple cutouts was examined in this
example. A seven-story shear wall that has two identical cutouts for el-
evator doors in each story was modeled as shown in Fig. 9.
The results obtained by using seven elements developed in this study
are shown in Table 5 and Fig. 10, along with the results obtained by
using 840 SAP IV elements. The elements from this study produced
slightly larger deflections at B and stresses at C than elements in SAP
IV. It is seen that the element with multiple cutouts can also be used
effectively in practical problems.
As the stresses were computed at the Gauss integration points in each
element and the stresses at other locations were extrapolated or inter-
polated from the stresses at the Gauss points, the high local stress con-
centrations at the corners of the cutouts in the element were not ob-
tained with this element.

TABLE 5.—Horizontal Displacement at B and Stresses at C in Fig. 9

Displacement at B Stresses at C
Model in. x 10"2 mm psi kPa
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
SAP IV 2.81 0.714 27.11 186.97
This study 2.99 0.759 30.77 212.21

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 CONCLUSIONS

A rectangular plate finite element with rectangular cutouts was de-

veloped, and the in-plane behavior of the element was intensively tested.
Using three of these elements with a single cutout produced almost the
same accuracy as the mesh of approximately 300 SAP IV-type elements
within the practical range of the cutout ratios. The behavior of the ele-
ment with multiple cutouts, used in the example of shear walls with
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two openings for elevator doors in each story, was as satisfactory as the
element with a single cutout. Thus, the choice of the aspect ratio, the
location, and the number of the cutouts in the element is almost arbi-
trary. This element can be used effectively and economically in the anal-
ysis of perforated shear walls, especially in the analysis of the integrated
behavior of entire structures.
Considering that the accuracy of this new element generally decreases
as the cutout ratio a/b increases, it is recommended that the range of
cutout ratios of 0-30% should not be significantly exceeded when using
this analysis technique.
It is apparent that a further study associated with the evaluation of
stress distributions in the element, including the high stress concentra-
tions at the corners of cutouts, is necessary. Such an additional work is
beyond the scope of the study presented in this paper.

APPENDIX I.—NUMERICAL INTEGRATION

The standard Gaussian integration formula can be written as

/Wd* = E/fo) Ux)dx = 2wM) •••(10)

J-l i=0 J-l (=0

where w,= L{x)dx; L,(x) = \\ ( - — ^ ) (11)

J-l ;=0 \Xi ~~ Xjl

and the associated points x,(f = 0, 1, ..., n) axe the roots of the Legendre
polynomial of degree n + 1.
By a change of variables, the procedure can be extended to integration
limits other than - 1 . 1 . One approach to evaluation of
b

f(x)dx (12)

where a and b axe arbitrary but finite, is to transform the function f(x),
a < x < b, to the interval - 1 < Z < 1 using

x
z(b - a) + (b + a)
=~ ~ (13)

Then, Eq. 12 becomes

[\, w (b - «) C , (z(h -a) + (b + a)\

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 with the standard Gaussian quadrature in Eq. 10. The integral of Eq. 14
can be approximated b y

C (b - a) " /z,l
f{x)dx= Wif (15)
i 2 h \
The base points z, are transformed a n d the weight factors w, are modified
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by the constant (b — a)/2.

The tables for the roots of the Legendre polynomial (x,) a n d the weight
factors (Wj) of Gaussian quadrature in Eq. 10 can be found in m a n y text-
books (10).

APPENDIX II.—REFERENCES

1. ACI Committee 442, "Response of Buildings to Lateral Forces," American

Concrete Institute Journal, Vol. 68, No. 2, Feb., 1971, pp. 81-106.
2. Ahmad, S., Irons, B. M., and Zienkiewicz, O. C , "Analysis of Thick and
Thin Shell Structures by Curved Finite Elements," International Journal for Nu-
merical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1970, pp. 419-451.
3. Ali, R., and Atwal, S. J., "Prediction of Natural Frequencies of Vibration of
Rectangular Plates with Rectangular Cut-Outs," Computers and Structures, Vol.
12, No. 6, Dec, 1980, pp. 819-823.
4. Bathe, K. J., Wilson, E. L., and Peterson, F. E., "SAP IV—A Structural Anal-
ysis Program for Static and Dynamic Response of Linear Systems," Report
No. EERC 73-11, University of California, Berkeley, Calif., 1973.
5. Cook, R. D., "Improved Two-Dimensional Finite Element," Journal of the
Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 100, ST9, Sept., 1974, pp. 1851-1864.
6. Choi, C. K., and Schnobrich, W. C , "Use of Nonconforming Modes in Finite
Element Analysis of Plates and Shells," Civil Engineering Studies, Structural
Research Series No. 401, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., 1973.
7. Emori, K., and Schnobrich, W. C , "Inelastic Behavior of Concrete Frame-
Wall Structures," Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 107, No. ST1,
Jan., 1981, pp. 145-164.
8. Fintel, M., "Deflections of High-Rise Concrete Buildings," American Concrete
Institute Journal, Vol. 72, No. 7, July, 1975, pp. 1637-1652.
9. Heidebrecht, A. C , and Smith, Stafford, B., "Approximate Analysis of Tall
Wall-Frame Structures," Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No.
ST8, Aug., 1979, pp. 1637-1652.
10. Kuo, S. S., Computer Applications of Numerical Methods, Addison-Wesley,
Reading, Mass., 1972.
11. Tham, L. G., and Cheung, Y. K., "Approximate Analysis of Shear Wall As-
semblies with Openings," The Structural Engineer, Vol. 6113, No. 2, June,
1983, pp. 41-45.
12. Zienkiewicz, O. C , "Isoparametric and Applied Numerically Integrated Ele-
ments—A Review," Int. Symp. on Num. and Computer Meth. in Structural
Mechanics, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., 1971.

APPENDIX III.—NOTATIONS

The following symbols are used in this paper:

B = matrix relating nodal displacement to strain;

D = material property matrix;
i = subscript indicating n o d e i;
J, |/| = Jacobian and determinant of Jacobian, respectively;

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306

 K, Ke = • element stiffness matrix, condensed and enlarged, re-
spectively;
N,N = shape functions in curvilinear coordinates, conform-
ing and nonconforming, respectively;
Pc = applied load vector;
t, tj = shell thickness, thickness at node i;
Uc, UN = conforming displacement vector and amplitude vec-
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tor of nonconforming displacement modes;

ua, (u, v, w) = components of displacement in x, y, z directions;
ua, (u, v, w) = components of amplitudes of nonconforming dis-
placement modes;
Vi,V 2 ,V 3 = unit direction vectors in the x',y',z' directions, re-
spectively;
xa / (x, y, z) = global coordinates;
x'a,(x',y',z') = local coordinates;
a, fi = rotations about x',y'-axes;
£p / (€/ "H/ £) = curvilinear coordinates; and
<b= = [v^-Vjj.

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J. Struct. Eng., 1987, 113(2): 295-306