From experimental strain and crack distributions to plastic hinge lengths of RC walls with SMA rebars

•Digital image correlation techniques are used to derive salient observations.•Strain heat maps show the concentration of strain demands.•Resulting strain profiles are not dissimilar to the Bernoulli-Euler profile.•Nonlinear strain profiles can be observed post-yield.•The plastic hinge length is equivalent to the SMA bar length used.•Large crack widths could be observed in the web of the walls.