Seismic Performance of Assembled Composite Shear Walls with C-Shaped and Rectangular Steel Frame: A Parametric Numerical Analysis

Abstract

To systematically investigate the effects of C-shaped and rectangular steel frames on the seismic performance of assembled composite shear walls, this paper, based on the validation of existing pseudo-static test results, employs ABAQUS software to establish refined finite element models, and carries out parametric analyses on C-shaped steel-frame composite shear walls (CSCSWs) and rectangular steel-frame composite shear walls (RSCSWs). With shear-span ratio, axial-load ratio, boundary frame steel plate thickness, and concrete strength grade as variables, a total of 28 numerical models are designed to systematically examine the influence laws of each parameter on bearing capacity, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and failure modes, and to reveal the performance differences in the confinement mechanisms of the two cross-sectional types. The results indicate that: as the shear-span ratio decreases from 3.0 to 1.0, the bearing capacity increases by up to 171%, but the ductility drops by up to 43%, and the failure mode shifts from flexure-dominated to shear-dominated; increasing the steel plate thickness can simultaneously enhance bearing capacity and ductility, with the peak load increasing by up to 52% and cumulative energy dissipation by over 110%, the mechanism being the synergistic enhancement of the flexural contribution of the boundary frame and the passive confinement effect on the core concrete; increasing the axial-load ratio can improve bearing capacity by about 24%, but significantly impairs ductility and energy dissipation capacity, and it is recommended that the design axial-load ratio be controlled between 0.26 and 0.43; the concrete strength grade has a limited effect on bearing capacity, and as the strength increases, brittle characteristics emerge, leading to a ductility decrease of about 12%; therefore, provided that the strength requirements are met, enhancing the concrete strength grade should not be taken as the primary technical approach for improving the seismic performance of such structures. Comparing the two cross-sectional types, the rectangular cross-section, by providing more uniform and effective lateral confinement, exhibits superior bearing capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation to the C-shaped cross-section across the entire parameter domain, and its performance advantages are more pronounced under conditions of high axial-load ratio and large shear-span ratio.