Easy-to-use formulas for predicting ultimate shear resistance and tension field distribution of semi-supported steel plate shear walls

Abstract

Semi-supported steel plate shear wall (SPSW) is one type of highly effective lateral load-resisting member. However, the current researches on evaluation of ultimate resistance for semi-supported SPSWs are limited. In this paper, a general finite element (FE) model for the two-side connected, semi-supported and four-side connected SPSWs is developed and verified by existing experimental results. The FE results demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of the SPSW is controlled by the in-plane moments of inertia of the vertical boundary elements (VBEs). The hysteretic behavior of the semi-supported SPSW is between the two-side and the four-side connected SPSWs. The minimum initial lateral stiffness, shear resistance and energy dissipation ability of the semi-supported SPSW are 0.43, 0.24 and 0.29 times of the four-side connected SPSW, respectively. Meanwhile, the equations for determining the inclination angle and the span of the tension field in the two-side connected and semi-supported SPSWs are recommend. Furthermore, an easy-to-use formulas are developed for predicting ultimate shear resistance and tension field distribution of SPSWs with various wall-to-frame connections and validated by the experimental and numerical results. The formula analysis results show that the inclination angle and the span of the tension field in two-side connected SPSW vary from 13.3° to 35.8° and 0.53 to 0.76 times the span of the steel plate. The inclination angle and the span of the tension field in the semi-supported SPSW increase rapidly with the rise in in-plane moments of inertia of the VBEs and the height-to-thickness ratio of the steel plate, and then increase gradually to 45° and the span of the steel plate, respectively. Finally, a unified tension strip model for two-side connected, semi-supported, and four-side connected SPSWs is suggested.