Estimating Fundamental Period of Corrugated Steel Plate Shear Walls

Abstract

Corrugated steel plate shear walls (CoSPSWs), which consist of corrugated infill steel wall panels and steel boundary frames, could be used as lateral force-resisting systems for mid- to high-rise buildings. In seismic design, the fundamental vibration period is generally estimated by empirical formulae corresponding to different types of lateral force-resisting systems. However, both the formulae in various design specifications and improved formulae proposed recently for steel shear walls with flat wall panels were not suitable and accurate for CoSPSWs since the difference in the load-carrying mechanism of steel shear walls with flat and corrugated wall panels respectively. Eigenvalue frequency analyses were conducted on a total of 60 validated CoSPSW finite element models with varying geometries, and results showed that fundamental periods estimated by current formulae were shorter than periods from the analyses, which might lead to the over-conservative and uneconomic design. Improved empirical formula was proposed for the fundamental period of CoSPSWs based on regression analyses. Simplified calculation method for calculating the fundamental period of CoSPSWs after the first trial design was proposed using the shear-flexure cantilever formulation, and validated through finite element analyses. Furthermore, influences of major geometric properties of CoSPSWs on the fundamental period was investigated.