A Conceptual Design Approach of Coupled Shear Walls

Table 2

Rotation capacities for coupling beams controlled by shear as per FEMA 273 [14] and FEMA 356 [15].

Type of coupling beam	Conditions	Plastic Rotation Capacity (Radians)
	Shear/𝑡𝑤𝐿𝑤𝑓^′𝑐	IO	LS	CP
Conventional longitudinal reinforcement with conforming transverse reinforcement	≤3	0.006	0.012	0.015
	≥6	0.004	0.008	0.010
Conventional longitudinal reinforcement with non-conforming transverse reinforcement	≤3	0.006	0.008	0.010
	≥6	0.004	0.006	0.007
Shear dominant steel coupling beam		0.005	0.11	0.14