Abstract: On the basis of the test results, the paper suggests a failure mode for framed lowrise shearwall by modelling its failure mechanism.Formulation of utilmate shear strength for framed lowrise shear-wallsbased on the relative flow principle of the plastic theory is made, which reasonably considers overall factors relating to shear strength of framed lowrise shearwalls. Numerical examples show that caculated results by the present analysis are in good agreement with test data. The formulas presented in the paper can be applied to practical desigh and strength checking of lowrise shearwalls.