An innovative model to estimate the tension field inclination considering crack growth for steel plate shear wall

Abstract

The Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) are known as a capable system to use in steel structures due to their significant advantages. Despite extensive studies concerning this system, few researchers have scrutinized thecrack effect on SPSW behavior. However, the crack dramatically affected the experimental results. In the currentpaper, the effect of central and edge cracks, therefore, has been studied in jointed plates at mid-height of SPSW.Results indicated that the central crack is more destructive than the edge crack. The central crack having a long initial length also makes a sudden wall fracture in the elastic zone and consequently cannot be used in high seismic regions. Due to the dependence of the wall on the diagonal tension field and its angle, an equationis proposed taking into account shear, axial, and moment actions in columns, axial and moment actions in beams, as well as shear and axial actions in the plate which conform to finite element results. Because of thecomplication of the stress intensity factor for mode I and mode II calculations, this confidence is derived and offered.