This paper investigates the impact of various design and modeling parameters on predicted seismic performance of low-rise and mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings. Parameters considered include: 1) building occupancy type (office versus hospital), 2) increased wall strength and stiffness beyond the code requirements, 3) low-rise vs mid-rise wall behavior, and 4) modeling of uncoupled versus coupled P-M and V responses. Selected archetype buildings are designed to meet current code provisions for a site in downtown Los Angeles and are analyzed considering hazard levels characterized with 50%, 10%, and 2% probabilities of exceedance in 50 years. FEMA P-58 methodology is used to assess damage and associated building repair cost. Performance assessment studies reveal that repair cost for hospitals are approximately 2 to 4 times larger than for office buildings due to significant damage to hospital equipment. In addition, the study shows that increased strength and stiffness of RC walls beyond code requirements notably reduces repair cost across all intensity levels. Furthermore, low-rise buildings generate up to 20% larger median losses per floor than mid-rise buildings as a result of more pronounced damage to curtain walls. Finally, shear-flexure coupled wall models predict softer behavior compared to uncoupled models resulting in more pronounced structural damage, but less damage to acceleration sensitive building components; variations in median loss estimates obtained using uncoupled models range from 70% to 130% of the coupled model.
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