Fragility functions for steel-plate concrete composite shear walls

Abstract

Steel-plate concrete (SC) composite shear walls, comprising of steel faceplates at two sides, infill concrete, steel studs, and tie rods, have become popular recently due to the convenience in their construction and reliable seismic performance compared to conventional steel and reinforced concrete shear walls. The new generation of seismic performance assessment of such structures which emphasizes on economic losses, injuries, and fatalities requires fragility functions for SC wall system.Herein, fragility functions for SC walls are developed using the available test data in literature to enable the performance assessment of buildings and infrastructures including such a system. The test data of SC walls with various design variables are collected and fragility functions are derived for concrete crushing and faceplate fracture damage states for which the damage data are available through statistical operations and assessments of the gathered database. SC wall specimens are categorized into four groups in terms of their aspect and axial load ratios in order to evaluate the effects of such parameters on fragility functions. On the basis of the available test data, typical damage states and their corresponding methods of repair are introduced and discussed.