Hysteretic Analysis and a Simplified Model of Buckling Restrained Steel Plate Shear Walls

As a kind of new lateral resistance member, buckling restrained steel plate shear walls (BRSPSWs) possess good ductility and energy dissipation ability, which begin to be used in buildings. In the use of BRSPSWs, it is hard to simulate BRSPSWs in high-rise buildings using shell elements due to convergence problems. Hence, a simplified analysis model for BRSPSWs is needed by engineers. In this paper, the finite element analysis of BRSPSWs under cyclic loads was done. The available experimental results are applied to validate the accuracy of finite element analysis results. Then the behavior of typical BRSPSW under cyclic loads is analyzed. Also, the influence of bolt distance, reinforced concrete (RC) panels’ thickness, height-to-thickness ratio and span-to-height ratio of steel plate on the hysteretic behavior of BRSPSWs is studied. The analytical results show that the bolt distance and RC panel thickness have obvious influence on the energy dissipation ability. At last, a simplified model is proposed, which can be used to simulate the hysteretic behavior of BRSPSWs instead of shell element in high-rise buildings.