Cyclic behavior of low shear-span ratio dovetailed profiled steel–concrete composite shear walls

Abstract

Dovetailed profiled steel–concrete composite shear wall (DPSCW) is composed of two skins of dovetailed profiled steel sheeting (DPS) and concrete in between, which is a novel composite member with the potential to serve as a lateral resistant member in low and medium-rise building structures. In addition to functioning as shear connectors to enable the steel–concrete composite action, the dovetailed ribs of DPS embedded in the concrete also make the concrete panel between the DPSs partially slit in the thickness direction, leading to improved seismic performance. This study presents experimental and numerical analyses on the cyclic behaviour of low shear-span ratio DPSCW under combined axial and cyclic lateral loads. Accordingly, two DPSCW specimens with different thickness ratios (ratio of the thickness of the concrete not penetrated by the dovetailed slit to the wall thickness) were tested for failure. All specimens failed in a ductile manner and experienced a flexure-shear mixed mode. The lateral stiffness increased with an increase in the thickness ratio, and the deformability and energy dissipation capacity were reduced. Subsequently, numerical studies were performed to further investigate the failure mechanism of DPSCWs and the effect of the thickness ratio on its lateral behaviour. The dovetailed slits in the concrete panel enable the DPSCW to exhibit an obvious two-stage mechanical response, and a reasonable thickness ratio between 0.19 and 0.5 is recommended. Moreover, simplified models were established to evaluate the lateral resistance of low shear-span ratio DPSCWs. The estimation formulae were found to coincide with the experimental and numerical simulation results.