Flexural-capability of angle-stiffened channel-type SC wall under combined cyclic lateral-force and axial-compression

Abstract

Thanks to the proven efficiency in construction schedule and great resistance to seismic and impulsive loading, the steel-plate composite (SC) walls have been widely used. When serving in nuclear power plants, the SC wall could be required to have a large wall-thickness. In that case, the angle-stiffened channel-type connectors are more feasible to link the two steel plates of SC walls compared with tie-bar type or J-hook type connectors. The reason is that the angle-stiffened embedded-channel connectors could be of larger intervals to ease the welding and concrete vibration work, meanwhile, the angle-ribs could prevent the steel plates from buckling and provide additional flexural capacities. However, the in-plane and out-of-plane flexural capabilities of angle-stiffened channel-type SC wall under combined axial compression and cyclic lateral loading have not been adequately studied. This paper presents the development and validation of finite element models (FEMs) based on the former tests, where the flexural failure of angle-stiffened channel-type SC walls is obtained under combined axial compression and cyclic lateral loading. The validated FEMs are then used for an extensive parametric study to emphasize the influence of reinforcement ratio, axial compression ratio, sectional area and distance of angle ribs, aspect ratio (or height-to-thickness ratio) and material properties on the flexural capability of angle-stiffened channel-type SC wall considering axial compression. Based on the test and numerical results, the formulas for the in-plane and out-of-plane flexural capabilities of angle-stiffened channel-type SC wall are proposed by considering the effect of axial compression and angle ribs, respectively.