NUMERICAL STUDY ON PLASTIC STRENGTH OF STEEL PLATE SHEAR WALLS

Abstract

The strength of steel plate shear wall (SPSW) introduced by design codes assumes that the acting lateral loads are resisted by only the infill plate, which results in uneconomic solution. In addition, the design codes require that any opening within in the infill plate should be surrounded by both horizontal and vertical stiffeners to anchor the infill plate tension. This, in turn, further affects the cost effectiveness of the SPSW solution. The objective of this study is to evaluate the plastic strength of the unstiffened perforated SPSWs considering the boundary frame (BF) moment resisting (MR) action. SPSW FE models have been established and designed according to AISC design guide20. A parametric numerical study has been performed on the SPSW with different geometrical and mechanical characteristics, using ABAQUS software. Equations have been formulated and proposed based on the plastic collapse mechanism to quantify the plastic strength of SPSWs with solid infill plate, considering the BFMR action. Furthermore, a reduction factor has been proposed to evaluate the reduction in the plastic strength due to infill plate perforations.