9625386 Moazzami In most building codes, there are very limited guidelines regarding the proportioning of the shear walls and coupling beams. Consequently, the response of the coupled wall assemblies to dynamic loads has been noted to fall short of acceptable ductile behavior. This project discusses some of the current practices in proportioning and design of coupled wall assemblies, highlights some of the shortcomings of these methods, and proposes a new approach that aims at a more comprehensive design of coupled wall assemblies. In particular the hysteretic response of the coupled wall assemblies will be studied based on a proposed mathematical model. The primary concern of this study is to assess the magnitude of cyclic energy dissipation, and determine the balance that must be achieved between strength, stiffness, and ductility capacity of structural members in order to optimize energy dissipation in the system. The outcome of this investigation is a set of design guidelines for proportioning structural members for optimum energy dissipation and stable hysteretic response.***
