Numerical and experimental investigation on composite shear walls with different steel layouts

Wang Y., Liao T., Zheng Z., Lai Z., Zuo J., Dong C., Guo J.

In order to solve the problems of corrosion and premature buckling of the exterior steel plate of the double-steel composite structural wall (DSCW), this paper proposed an innovative assembled composite structural wall (ACW). The concrete layers are innovatively utilized in ACW as protection layers to prevent steel plates from corrosion and early buckling. Six ACW specimens and a reinforced concrete (RC) structural wall were tested under cyclic load, and the seismic performance was evaluated. The results showed that: i) the displacement capacity decreased and the strength degraded rapidly as the stud spacing increased; ii) an increase in reinforcement ratio mitigated the concrete crushing at the wall toe and the steel plates buckling; and iii) two exterior concrete layers effectively delayed the yielding of steel plates, improving the ductility and flexural strength of ACWs, but one exterior concrete layer caused the out-of-plane torsion failure. In addition, ACW was better in terms of ductility, load capacity, and energy dissipation capacity compared to traditional RC structural walls. Finally, three different codes were evaluated, and the calculated results of AISC 360–22 were conservative compared with the experimental results.

Wang Y., Guo L., Li H., Shafaei S., Yu Y.

Behavior of L-shaped multi-partition steel–concrete composite shear walls (MP-SC-CSWs) subjected to the cyclic lateral load is experimentally and numerically evaluated. Such composite shear walls possess proper capacity, stiffness, and ductility, as the steel tube strengthened by inner steel plates considerably confines the infill concrete. Four large-scale L-shaped MP-SC-CSW specimens were designed, fabricated, and tested. The L-shaped specimens were exposed to lateral hysteretic loading and axial compression loading. The experimental parameters were axial load ratios and height-to-depth ratios (wall aspect ratios). The experimental results indicated that the L-shaped MP-SC-CSWs had high lateral capacities, energy dissipations, and good ductility. Based on the experimental observations, specimens failed in flexure mode. Increasing the axial load ratio enhances the capacity to dissipate energy but decreases the ductility. The tested specimens could meet the drift requirement of the specification even when subjected to a high design axial load ratio of 0.76. Additionally, the wall aspect ratios had little influence on the ductility. 3D nonlinear finite element models of tested specimens were established and verified with test results to conduct further numerical studies. A simplified method based on the plastic stress distribution was developed and confirmed by the experimental and finite element analysis to calculate the flexural capacities of MP-SC-CSWs.

Pang R., Wang W., Zhou F., Ding S.

An innovative structural wall named double-skin steel-concrete composite tube(DSCCT) wall is proposed in this paper. The proposed wall is composed of rectangular steel composite tube, in-filled concrete, external concrete and stud-tie bar connectors. Sixteen full-scaled DSCCT wall specimens and two reinforced concrete walls (RCW) specimens were tested under axial monotonic compression to investigate their load bearing capacity. Parameters included are the double-skin steel plates thickness, steel plate slenderness ratio (the distance to thickness ratio of the stud-tie bars), stud-tie bar arrangement etc. The vertical load-displacement responses of the test specimens are discussed along with their stiffness, strength, and deformation capacity. Experimental results indicate that the DSCCT specimens exhibited a fairly good bearing capacity, the external concrete, steel composite tube and in-filled concrete could work together well. The greater the thickness of the double-skin steel plate, the greater the buckling wavelength; The smaller steel plate slenderness ratio, the later the local buckling of the double-skin steel plate occurred, and the higher the bearing capacity of the DSCCT wall specimens. The displacement ductility coefficient of the DSCCT wall specimens was higher than that of RCW specimen. Considering the local buckling of the double-skin steel plates and the confinement effect of the steel composite tube on the internal concrete, a theoretical calculation formula of the axial compression bearing capacity of DSCCT wall was proposed. The proposed calculation values were in good agreement with the test values, and had higher calculation accuracy and stability in predicting the axial compression bearing capacity of DSCCT walls.

Wang D., Xu S., Yang Y., Mao J., Zhu Y., Guo D., Nie Z.

Steel–concrete composite shear walls are common structures that resist lateral forces and are typically damaged at the corners under seismic loading. In this study, novel corner designs of steel–concrete composite shear walls were proposed based on the design concept of plastic damage relocation. The seismic behavior of the designed corner structures of the steel–concrete composite shear wall was investigated using a low-cyclic lateral loading test. The failure mode, hysteretic curve, crack development, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness degradation were analyzed based on the experimental results. To optimize the proposed corner designs, a finite element model was developed and validated experimentally, and a parametric study was conducted to determine the effects of the length–width ratio (α) and thickness ratio (β) of the stiffer to the steel plate and thickness ratio (λ) of the corner section steel to the steel plate on the seismic behaviors of the proposed composite shear wall. The experimental results showed that the seismic performance of the proposed steel–concrete composite shear wall was much better than that of a conventional shear wall. The results of the parametric study suggest that β and λ have little effect, and α should be 0.2 to achieve optimal seismic performance. This study provides a basic measurement to improve the seismic performance of steel–concrete composite shear walls, and promotes their development and application.

Ke X., Li N., Li Q., Tang Z.

An innovative shear wall was proposed by introducing partially encased composite (PEC) columns and welded reinforcement grids (WRGs) into steel plate concrete composite shear wall. This work conducted an experimental investigation of the seismic behavior of seven 1/3-scale proposed walls subjected to cyclic lateral loading. The design parameters included the forms of distribution reinforcement, axial compression ratio, thickness of the built-in steel plate, shear-to-span ratio and thickness of the PEC column-section steel flanges. The results revealed that the specimens had good bearing capacity, deformation ability, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness under a reasonable axial compression ratio. Compared with a specimen featuring orthogonal distribution reinforcement, the cracking load and ductility of a specimen with diagonal cross-distribution reinforcement were increased by 6.5% and 13.6%, respectively. And increasing the thickness of the built-in steel plate and the PEC column-section steel flanges could augment the bearing capacity and ensure the late stiffness of the specimens. Then, the residual displacement fitting formulae were presented herein to assess post-earthquake repairability. Besides, the bearing capacity calculation formulae of the novel shear wall with certain prediction accuracy were proposed. Finally, finite element models of the tested specimens were established in ABAQUS and validated with experimental results. Also, further investigations regarding the influence of axial compression ratio and shear-to-span ratio were implemented by finite element analysis and engineering recommendations for the designed axial compression ratio limits of the novel shear were given.

Li Z., Ge L., Qi Y., Geng Y., Teng J.

• The BRSPSW-NBP with improved bearing capacity and energy dissipation was proposed. • Theoretical analyses were conducted to study the seismic behaviour of BRSPSW-NBP. • A BRSPSW-NBP specimen and a BRSPSW specimen were cyclically tested. • The performance of BRSPSW-NBP specimen were improved. In this study, a buckling-restrained steel plate shear wall with novel buckling-restrained panels (hereafter referred to as the BRSPSW-NBP) with improved bearing capacity and energy dissipation is proposed. The novel buckling-restrained panel comprises a concrete panel and load-bearing connection steel plates with energy dissipation segments. These steel plates are connected with the boundary frame through connectors for transferring the horizontal and vertical loads to the concrete panel. Therefore, the buckling-restrained panel serves as an additional load-bearing component that increases the bearing capacity and lateral stiffness of the BRSPSW-NBP. To dissipate seismic energy, the energy dissipation segments in the load-bearing connection steel plates are designed to undergo plastic deformation earlier than the inner steel plate such that the BRSPSW-NBP develops a multi-stage energy dissipation characteristic. Theoretical analyses were conducted to investigate the seismic behaviour of the BRSPSW-NBP. The bearing capacity and multi-stage energy dissipation characteristic of the BRSPSW-NBP were studied through quasi-static testing. The results demonstrated that the connection steel plates with energy dissipation segments share the horizontal and vertical loads of the BRSPSW-NBP and undergo plastic deformation earlier than the inner steel plate, thus improving the bearing capacity and energy dissipation performance of the BRSPSW-NBP.

Akhaveissy A., Daneshvar K., Ghazi-Nader D., Amooie M., Moradi M.J.

AbstractShear walls are lateral load–resisting systems that provide lateral strength and stiffness in order to reduce the horizontal sway of a building. Over recent years, composite shear walls wit...

Feng X., Yu J., Shen J.

Rubber with the material property of low elastic modulus is suitable for using in the shear connectors of the steel and concrete composite structures to achieve the damage-free behavior and high ductility. Based on this design concept, this paper proposed a novel composite steel plate shear wall structure with rubber-coated uplift-restrained (RCUR) studs used in the composite wallboard. This novel RCUR stud is composed of stud shank, large stud end-plate and rubber sleeves wrapping both stud shank and end-plate. This configuration is aimed to release the shear force transmitted from the interaction of infill panel and concrete cover panel, inhibit the interface separation of steel and concrete panels and alleviate the damage of concrete. Two 1/3-scale SPSW specimens were designed, the first one with conventional unstiffened infill steel plate and the second one with the proposed composite wallboard were tested under quasi-static cyclic loading. Improved seismic behavior of the novel composite steel plate shear wall was demonstrated by experimental results of these two specimens in terms of failure mode, bearing capacity, hysteretic behavior, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation. The proposed rubber-coated uplift-restrained studs prevented damage in the concrete slab up to a lateral drift of 1/50. Finite element analyses on the tested specimen were conducted to verify the shear-free and uplift-restrained effect of the proposed RCUR studs. Designing formulas for RCUR connectors is also proposed. • Rubber-coated uplift-restrained stud(RCURS) is proposed using in composite SPSWs. • Composite steel plate shear wall with RCURS is tested under cyclic loads. • Using RCURS can restrain infill-plate buckling and prevent damage until drift of 1/50. • Shear-free and uplift-restraining effect of RCURS were evaluated by FE simulation. • Designing methods for the detailed dimension of RCURS were also provided.

Luo Q., Wang W., Sun Z., Xu S., Wang B.

This study investigates the hysteretic performance of corrugated steel plate composite shear walls. Six shear walls were designed for experimental research to analyze the failure process and mode, hysteresis diagrams, backbone curves, energy consumption capacity, and stiffness degradation. The peak loads of SPCSW-1, SPCSW-2, and SPCSW-3 were 688.8 kN, 733.0 kN, and 547.2 kN, respectively, representing increases of 252.8%, 200.4%, and 141.8% (compared with SPSWs: 272.5 kN, 365.7 kN, and 385.8 kN). According to the experimental failure mode, the conventional model was further optimized to achieve corner cracking. The optimization scheme and mechanism analysis of the model were explored. The shear strength formula for a horizontal corrugated steel plate composite shear wall was revised, considering the adverse effect of corner failure, and the shear sharing percentage was determined. The simulation results indicate that the steel type may affect the peak load of the composite shear wall. The energy consumption ratio of the outside concrete, steel plate, and tension column to the pressure column is 13:3:3:1; the ratio is minimally affected by the steel type. The steel skeleton cannot provide full support due to stress concentration after the failure of the concrete corner, which causes adverse conditions. The revised formula was demonstrated to be more accurate for the shear strength calculation of a horizontal corrugated steel plate composite shear wall.

Bai J., Zhang J., Jin S., Du K., Wang Y.

In this paper, a simplified seismic design method of high-rise frame-steel plate shear wall (SPSW) system was proposed based on the multi-modal-analysis under the framework of performance-based seismic design. The seismic response of high-rise SPSW system was simplified to first and multiple-modal equivalent single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) oscillators. The dual frame-SPSW structure was decomposed into a frame system and SPSW system by controlling the relative contribution of SPSW system, and they were correspondingly simplified to a series of F-SDOF oscillators and S-SDOF oscillators. The analytical models of F-SDOF and S-SDOF oscillators were developed using the modal pushover analysis. By assuming the system responding linearly elastic for higher modes, the equivalent SDOF oscillator (D-SDOF) for the frame-SPSW system was developed by combining the F-SDOF and S-SDOF oscillators in parallel for each mode of vibration. The design procedure was developed based on the comparison of displacement thresholds against the displacement demands derived using the SRSS combination. A 15-story frame-SPSW system was adopted to verify the feasibility and demonstrate the design process of the simplified method. The result also shows the seismic demands derived by the equivalent dual SDOF oscillators have good consistency with that by frame-SPSW structure. • The multiple-modal equivalent SDOF oscillators were developed for the frame system and SPSW system. • A simplified multi-modal-analysis-based seismic design approach for high-rise frame-SPSW systems was proposed. • Demonstration of a case structure was provided and the efficiency was greatly improved.

Shen S., Cui Y., Pan P., Ren J.

• A dual system that combines prefabricated slotted walls with a frame was proposed. • A composite energy-dissipating slotted shear wall (CDSW) was proposed. • Quasi-static test was performed to study the seismic behavior of the CDSW. • A modified D-value method for designing slotted shear walls was proposed. In a wall-frame system, shear walls are considered to be components with high load-bearing capacity and stiffness to provide lateral resistance. However, the ductility of shear walls is commonly far weaker than the frame. When high deformation is generated in a structure during earthquakes, shear walls are often damaged whereas the frame remained intact, which leads to their uncoordinated and restricted deformation. Furthermore, insufficient energy dissipation is exhibited within the limited deformation. This study is aimed at developing an innovative composite energy-dissipating slotted shear wall (CDSW). The CDSW features concrete-filled-tube wall segments, vertical slots, and H-shaped soft steel connectors, and it is endowed with significantly elevated deformability and energy dissipation. A quasi-static test was performed to investigate the seismic behavior of the CDSW, which showed high ductility. Finally, based on the calculation process of the conventional D-value method for frame structures, a modified D-value method was proposed to calculate the internal force and strength of slotted shear walls. The skeleton curve of the CDSW calculated by the modified D-value method agreed well with that obtained from the testing.

Guo L., Hou J., Li Z., Zhang S.

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.

Jiang D., Xiao C., Chen T., Zhang Y.

Shear walls are effective lateral load resisting elements in high-rise buildings. This paper presents an experimental study of the seismic performance of a composite shear wall system that consists of high-strength concrete walls with the embedded steel plate. Two sets of wall specimens with different aspect ratios (height/width, 1.5 and 2.7) were constructed and tested under quasi-static reversed cyclic loading, including five reinforced concrete shear walls (RCSW) and six reinforced concrete-steel plate shear walls (RCSPSW). The progression of damage, failure modes, and load-displacement responses of test specimens were studied and compared based on experimental observations. The test results indicated that high-strength (HS) RCSPSW system showed superior lateral load strength and acceptable deformation capability. The axial compressive load was found to have an indispensable effect on the ductility of both RCSW and RCSPSW, and an upper limit of axial compression ratio (0.5) is recommended for the application of HS RCSPSW in engineering practices. In addition, the design strength models were suggested for predicting the shear and flexure peak strength values of RCSPSW systems, and their applicability and reliability were verified by comparing with test results.

Ayazi A., Shafaei S.

Rafiei S., Hossain K.M., Lachemi M., Behdinan K.

This research investigated the behavior of a composite shear wall system consisting of two skins of profiled steel sheeting and an infill of concrete under in-plane monotonic loading. Three sets of double skin composite wall (DSCW) specimens with overall wall dimensions of 1626 mm high by 720 mm wide were tested. Steel sheet–concrete connections were provided by intermediate fasteners along the height and width of the wall to generate composite action. Two types of concrete namely self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and highly ductile engineered cementitious composite (ECC) as well as cold formed profiled steel sheet having same geometry but with two different yield strengths were incorporated to investigate their influence on the composite wall behavior. Analytical models for the shear resistance of the composite wall were developed based on existing models taking into account the shear capacity of steel sheet, concrete core and steel sheet–concrete interaction. The advantage of using ECC over SCC was exhibited through more ductile wall behavior and energy absorbing capacity. The benefit of using mild over high strength steel was also demonstrated through more ductile failure. The steel–concrete intermediate fasteners along the height and width of the wall provided sufficient steel–concrete composite action to prevent early elastic buckling of the profiled steel sheets. Experimental and analytical shear resistance of composite walls showed very good agreement. The proposed analytical models can be used for the prediction of shear resistance of composite walls with reasonable accuracy. • Experimental investigations on a novel composite shear wall system. • Use of advanced ductile engineered cementitious composite in the wall system. • Performance evaluation based on strength, ductility & energy absorbing capacities. • Develop theoretical models for shear resistance and performance validation.

Dou L., Huang Z., Liu Y., Wang Y., Zhao L.

The present study proposed novel prefabricated composite RC shear walls with a concrete-filled steel tube frame (CCRCSW-CFST) because of the superior seismic performance of shear walls incorporating CFSTs as boundary-restrained members. One cast-in-place reinforced concrete shear wall (RCSW) and seven CRCSW-CFSTs, each varying in axial compression ratios, concrete strengths, and shear span ratios, were designed for experimental analysis. Cyclic loading tests were performed on these specimens, yielding the following results: (1) Compared to reinforced concrete shear walls, CCRCSW-CFSTs demonstrated superior seismic performance, with 14.2% increased ductility and 47.5% greater energy dissipation capacity. (2) Elevating the axial compression ratio in CCRCSW-CFSTs resulted in increased yield strength, peak strength, and stiffness. Conversely, this adjustment also expedited the degradation of stiffness with displacement and decreased both ductility and ultimate deformation. (3) The peak displacement and ultimate displacement of CCRCSW-CFSTs were both increased with an increase in concrete strength. Increasing the axial compression ratio enhanced the initial stiffness of CCRCSW-CFSTs and mitigated the rate at which stiffness deteriorated with increasing displacement. (4) The stiffness, peak and ultimate displacements, peak and ultimate loads, and shear span ratio of CCRCSW-CFSTs were significantly reduced as the shear span ratio was increased. (5) The minor slip between the reinforced concrete panel of the precast slab and the encasing C-shaped steel contributed to an increase in early-stage energy dissipation of the CCRCSW-CFSTs.