Analytical model for the basement wall horizontally supported by flexible floor diaphragms

Subterranean floors are treated as the rigid lateral support in the current practice for the basement wall design. The structural performance of the basement wall will be influenced by the floor openings, which are inevitable to satisfy building functional requirements. An analytical model for the basement wall being presented is able to analyze the effect of such opening quantitatively. The magnitude of the horizontal support stiffness is determined based on deformation analysis of the diaphragm opening area. Idealized models of the basement wall are continuous beams with various degrees of indeterminacy. The force method is used to deduce the functions for internal forces acting towards the basement wall. The proposed analytical model is verified with results derived by finite element analyses through consideration of various factors, including various numbers of stories, combinations of beam-slab sections, and percentages of floor opening dimensions. The maximum deviations on critical design sections for all prototype basement structures are less than 15.99%. Comparisons with conventional rigid support models are also performed, providing an estimation of the effect of the opening on the mechanical behavior of the basement wall.