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The continuous medium analyses of two- and three-dimensional multi-storey shear wall structures are presented in this thesis. The system of planar coupled walls with continuously variable stiffness has been analysed and two methods of solution, the Galerkin and the finite difference methodsy proposed. The results of tests on perspex models with tapered width agreed reasonably well with the analytical results. A new technique which enables important design quantities for uniform coupled wall systems on flexible bases to be evaluated rapidly has been developed. The desIgn curves for several standard load cases, vertical and lateral loads have been produced. These design curves are applicable to two coupled wall systems or any symmetrical system with three coupled walls. The lateral-load analysis of symmetrical shear wall and shear wall-frame structures has been presented. The bending and torsional actions of the applied loads are analysed separately. Each separate analysis is reducible to the analysis of an equivalent analogous plane system. The method is particularly suitable for analysing a symmetrical structure which consists of a few distinct groups of coupled wall assemblies. Asymmetrical shear wall and shear wall-frame structures have also been treated, Finally the structure composed of thin-walled assemblies has been analysed by using Vlasov's theory for thin-walled beams of open section. The theoretical results were compared with the results of tests on a fourteen-storey perspex model. Reasonable agreement was obtained between theory and experiment.

The various structural forms commonly adopted for the construction of multi-storey structures are outlined and the advantages of the use of shear walls as the load bearing elements in such structures are indicated. It is shown that, although a considerable amount of research has been devoted to the analysis of multi-storey structures, very little attention has been paid to the effects of foundation deformations on these structures. Three methods for the analysis of shear wall structures are indicated and the suitability of the continuous connection technique for the investigation of the effects of foundation deformations is shown. Two-dimensional coupled shear wall systems and single walls or box cores, all of which may be based on elastic foundations are analysed subjected to either of two generalised distributions of horizontal forces. The expressions derived for plane coupled shear walls are adapted to produce methods whereby design curves may be drawn for the rapid evaluation of stresses and deflections. The relationships derived for the two-dimensional analysis are used to derive a method for the analysis of the load distribution in three-dimensional multi-storey shear wall structures subjected to any system of lateral loads which may produce bending and torsion of the structure. The suitability of the analytical methods for the numerical computation of problems involving shear wall structures is discussed with particular reference to the feasibility of hand calculations and the development of a useful system of programs for computer analysis. The results of a number of numerical studies, carried out with the aid of the computer programs, are given to illustrate various aspects of the theory. The importance of accurately determining the extent and nature of the lateral load bearing systems within a structure is illustrated. The convergence of solutions obtained using the two load distributions are compared and the applications of each are discussed. The effects of varying the flexibility of the foundations, both of a two-dimensional coupled wall system and of specific walls in three-dimensional structures are illustrated by examples. A description is given of an experimental investigation carried out to study the effects of the elastic deformation of foundations on model shear wall structures constructed from "Perspex" sheets. The results of a comprehensive series of tests on the models are compared with the corresponding analytical solutions in order to assess the validity of the assumptions which were made in the derivation of the analytical methods.