Evaluation of elastic properties and lateral stiffness of multi-ribbed walls based on equivalent elastic model

• Multi-ribbed wall consists of ribbed frames and light porous concrete filled in it.
• Using Mori–Tanaka method to derive the equivalent elastic model.
• The lateral stiffness of the anisotropic equivalent elastic wall is developed.
• The accuracy of the developed method is verified by large-scale tests.
• Compared to the other methods, the method in this paper is simple and convenient.

Multi-ribbed wall structure (MRWS) is a new structural system developed in recent years, where multi-ribbed walls are primary load-resistant elements. This paper is focused on evaluation of elastic properties and lateral stiffness of multi-ribbed walls for simplified analysis and design. Based on Mori–Tanaka method, an equivalent elastic model is developed first to predict the elastic properties of multi-ribbed walls and overcomes non-physical order of operation dependencies the other two methods face. An equation to calculate the lateral stiffness of the anisotropic equivalent elastic wall is then developed that is calibrated through a parametric study. The accuracy of the developed method is verified by large-scale tests. The present simplified method provides a valuable basis for designing high-rise multi-ribbed wall structures.