Influence of Geometric and Material Parameters on the Behaviour of Steel and Composite Plate Shear Walls
Abstract
Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) have been increasingly recognised as an efficient and cost‐effective system for resisting lateral loads in medium‐ and high‐rise buildings. SPSWs rely on the post‐buckling tension field action of the infill plate to resist lateral loads. Although this mechanism enables significant energy dissipation, it also induces large transverse forces on the boundary members, particularly the columns, and limits the post‐yield strength of the system. To mitigate this, composite plate shear walls (CPSWs) may be implemented, where the steel plate is coupled with reinforced concrete layer(s) to provide enhanced stiffness, strength, and reduced column “pull‐in”. This paper presents a comprehensive numerical parametric study aimed at assessing the influence of key parameters on the seismic performance of SPSWs and CPSWs. Specifically, the effects of aspect ratio (frame span‐to‐height), steel infill plate thickness and grade, and infill type (steel vs. composite) were examined. The results obtained provide valuable insights into the sensitivity of wall performance to the selected parameters, highlighting the role of infill type in the global behaviour and its effects on the frame columns. The obtained results strongly support the hypothesis that the required column moment of inertia can be reduced, particularly in CPSW.