Elastic buckling formulas of multi-stiffened corrugated steel plate shear walls

Abstract

Multi-stiffened corrugated steel plate shear walls (MCSPSWs) have desirable seismic behavior involving shear-resistant, ductile, and energy-dissipating capacities. The elastic buckling load of the MCSPSW is a major influencing factor on its seismic behavior and it lays a foundation for the further study and design of the elastoplastic shear bearing capacity of the MCSPSW. Current research on the elastic buckling load of the MCSPSW is limited. For the MCSPSW with corrugations laid horizontally, the number of pairs of stiffeners in engineering practice is usually larger than that of existing research. This study focused on the elastic buckling formulas of the MCSPSW with more than one pair of vertical stiffeners. Firstly, based on the orthotropic plate theory, the theoretical model of elastic shear buckling was established for the energy method derivation of the elastic buckling load of the MCSPSW. Then, for the stiffeners with transition rigidities, the effect of the stiffener layout on the elastic buckling load was investigated through theoretical analyses and numerical solutions. Accordingly, the optimal layout corresponding to the maximum elastic buckling load was determined. Considering the optimal layout of stiffeners, the elastic buckling load of the MCSPSW was solved using MATLAB. The uniform formulas for the elastic buckling coefficient of the MCSPSW involving more than one pair of vertical stiffeners were proposed by fitting the MATLAB results. Finally, eigenvalue buckling analyses based on finite element models were conducted to verify the accuracy of the optimal layout theory of stiffeners and proposed formulas.