This study examines the role of inelastic shear deformations
in attenuating response of structural walls subjected to seismic excitation. Particular emphasis is placed on required shear strength having regard to damage potential, usable ductilities, and strength erosion. First the load-deformation relations for reinforced concrete structural walls failing in shear are discussed and simplified modelling of these relations introduced. Previous analytic studies using this simplified modelling and artificial earthquake simulation are then reviewed. This present study uses similar procedures to those previously employed, but with real earthquake accelerograms, and a modelling refined to account for strength erosion. It is demonstrated through simple concepts correlated by time history analyses that existing code provisions may be unnecessarily conservative in many applications.