Precast structures have become a more widely used solution in construction due to the advantages they offer over on site concreted structures, such as quality control of the elements, less man-power on site, a less time-consuming process and less environmental impact.

The elements are produced in the factory and assembled on site, where the various elements can be connected using dry connections, such as bolts, or wet connections, using reinforcement and on site concreting, leading to a monolithic behaviour of the structure.

The main aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the impact of openings on the structural behaviour of simple precast walls, checking them at the ultimate limit state (with and without seismic actions) and at serviceability. The aim is to determine the maximum rate of opening in the walls without significantly reducing their resistance, helping the designer to decide whether they can be used as structural elements, to optimise the remaining elements, reducing waste and costs.

The parametric study was carried out using IDEA StatiCa Detail software and was divided into two phases. The first analysed a fictitious case in Lisbon. The second phase evaluated the impact of increasing the vertical load on a wall. In this phase, the evolution of the stresses in the concrete and reinforcement, the crack widths and the maximum permissible load on the wall were observed, considering the variation in the opening rate, the amount of reinforcement and the type of connection.