A theoretical method based on the upper bound theorem to analyze ultimate strength of reinforced concrete shear walls is proposed. A yield line which crosses the extreme ompression edge of the bottom end of a shear wall is assumed. As the angle of the yield line is varied, the yield line and the lateral strength of the smallest lateral strength are considered to be the predicted solutions, when a yield criterion of reinforced concrete sections considering interaction of combined forces is used. The predicted solutions by the proposed method show good correlation with test results of 41 reinforced shear walls.
