Seismic performance of slit steel plate shear walls strengthened by FRP laminate

Abstract

Steel plate shear walls with slits are widely used in high–rise building structures due to their flexible arrangement and high ductility. After long-term service, cracks may occur in the slit steel plate shear walls due to repeated buckling and stress concentration. In this study, an FRP–steel composite slit steel plate shear wall was proposed to improve its mechanical performance and service function. Experimental and finite element analysis were conducted to investigate the performance of slit steel plate shear walls reinforced with FRP under low cycle reciprocating load. It was shown that the use of FRP to strengthen slit steel plates can effectively improve the out–of–plane stability of the structure and reduce the stress concentration at the slits. The stiffness and load–bearing capacity of the reinforced slit steel plate shear walls were significantly enhanced. The reinforcement effect of FRP did not significantly affect the energy dissipation capacity of the shear walls. A numerical study was performed to investigate the optimal orientation of the FRP arrangement. The analysis revealed that when the carbon fibers were arranged horizontally and vertically orthogonally, the structure exhibited better seismic properties. This study can not only improve the seismic performance of slit steel plate shear walls, but also have engineering implications for the seismic reinforcement of existing slit steel plate shear walls.