Gas Flow Rate through Damaged Low Aspect Ratio Shearwalls

Squat reinforced concrete (RC) shearwalls are often used to contain nuclear material or other dangerous gases in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) complex. Damage to such walls can be expected even during minor earthquake shaking. The escape of dangerous gases post-event is therefore of concern. In this paper, the flow rate of air through damaged squat RC walls is analytically predicted for a broad range of structural configurations, loading conditions, and concrete compressive strengths at different differential pressures. Design charts relating shearwall lateral drift ratio and air leakage rate are presented. Among the parameters considered in this study, the shearwall boundary element size has the most significant effect on the flow rate. The paper concludes with a design example demonstrating the use of the design charts.