Structural performance assessment of large unstiffened openings in steel plate shear walls: Fid-Bau Portal

Structural performance assessment of large unstiffened openings in steel plate shear walls

Darvishi, Hadi / Mofid, Massood

Highlights • The structural behavior of SPSW with large unstiffened openings is studied. • A comparison between experimental and numerical results of SPSWs is provided. • Ultimate shear strength, initial stiffness, ductility, behavior factor is studied. • The position and shape of openings affect the values of the structural parameters. • Ultimate inter-story drift angle in SPSWs with openings ranges from 7.14 to 8.57.

Abstract The latest research studies on Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) suggest that the use of large-sized openings in infill plates calls for the use of heavy stiffeners or special measures for ensuring system stability. This study explores the effect of introduction of large unstiffened openings in SPSWs. A number of single story SPSWs with solid infill plates and their corresponding models with unstiffened openings are designed and analyzed numerically. In addition, this study provides a comparison of the experimental and numerical results obtained from the finite element models of SPSWs with openings. The results indicate the acceptable behavior of the specimens even at high levels of drift in all three SPSWs. The over-strength factors and behavior factors of the experimental specimens vary in the ranges proposed in ASCE-07-10 and the accuracy of the results is acceptable. However, the position and shape of the openings affect the values of the structural parameters. Furthermore, although the ultimate shear strength of the reference specimen was larger than the two other specimens, the values of the ductility ratio and dissipated energy in the specimen with two proposed oval openings are 41.5 and 25.5 times larger than the reference specimen at maximum displacement, respectively. The ultimate strength, ductility ratio, and initial stiffness of the specimen with the largest opening width decreased by 24%, 33%, and 47%, respectively, compared to the reference specimen. However, Normalized Cumulative Hysteresis Energy (CHE), last Cycle Hysteresis Energy (LHE) and equivalent viscose damping ratio are slightly improved by approximately 15%, 18%, and 14%, respectively.