Seismic performance assessment of steel frame structures equipped with buckling-restrained slotted steel plate shear walls

The near-fault ground motion records may impose high seismic energy input to the building structures. The steel plate shear walls (SPSW) are one of the robust and efficient lateral-force resisting and energy-dissipating components and SPSWs are increasingly equipped in steel moment frame to form a dual structural system. A modified type of buckling-restrained SPSW with inclined slots has been proposed and applied in the steel frame. This paper presents the seismic performance of steel frame-SPSW system subjected to near-fault ground motions. Four multi-story (5-, 10-, 15- and 20-story) steel frame-SPSW structures were selected and designed. The accuracy of the SPSW models' predictions was assessed using previous experimental results. Nonlinear time-history analysis assuming two groups of 15 near-fault ground motions and 15 far-fault ground motions was used to predict the structures' interstory drift ratios, floor accelerations, residual interstory drift ratios and drift concentration factor. Incremental dynamic analysis was used to predict collapse probabilities using the same groups of ground motions. The analytical results can provide significant insights to the seismic behavior of steel frame-SPSW structures when subjected to near-fault ground motions. • A novel dual steel frame – slotted SPSW structure system was proposed. • The simple model of the slotted SPSW was developed. • Four multi-story steel frame-SPSW structures were analyzed under near-fault ground motions. • Seismic performance and fragility curves of steel frame-SPSW structures were obtained.