Seismic Performance And Design Of Steel Plate Shear Walls With Low Yield Point Steel Infill Plates PDF Download

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) have been frequently used as the primary or part of the primary lateral force-resisting system in design of low-, medium-, and high-rise buildings. Their application has been based on two different design philosophies as well as detailing strategies. Stiffened and/or stocky-web SPSWs with improved buckling stability and high seismic performance have been mostly used in Japan, which is one of the pioneering countries in design and application of these systems. Unstiffened and slender-web SPSWs with relatively lower buckling and energy dissipation capacities, on the other hand, have been deemed as a rather economical alternative and accordingly widely used in the United States and Canada. Development and use of low yield point (LYP) steel with considerably low yield stress and high elongation capacity provides the possibility to combine merits of these two distinctive design strategies, and consequently result in rather cost-effective and high-performing SPSW systems. Although some reported studies have demonstrated the advantages of LYP steel shear walls, various aspects of structural and seismic characteristics of these systems have not been investigated thoroughly. In particular, the linkage between structural specifications and seismic performance and pathway to performance-based design of these systems are largely undeveloped. Hence, systematic investigations are required to facilitate the seismic design and prevalent application of such promising lateral force-resisting and energy dissipating systems. Although some reported studies have demonstrated the advantages of LYP steel shear walls, various aspects of structural and seismic characteristics of these systems have not been investigated thoroughly. In particular, the linkage between structural specifications and seismic performance and pathway to performance-based design of these systems are largely undeveloped. Hence, systematic investigations are required to facilitate the seismic design and prevalent application of such promising lateral force-resisting and energy dissipating systems. The main objectives of this research are to evaluate the structural behavior and seismic performance of unstiffened LYP steel shear wall systems in a rather comprehensive manner. To achieve these objectives, element-level investigations on steel plates, component-level investigations on SPSW panels, and system-level investigations on multi-story steel frame-shear wall structures are performed in a hierarchical and systematic manner. Through detailed element- and component-level investigations, it is shown that employment of LYP steel infill plates in SPSW systems facilitates the design and effectively improves the buckling stability, serviceability, and energy absorption capacity of such lateral force-resisting systems. Some practical design tools and recommendations are also provided through analytical and numerical studies. In system-level investigations, the effectiveness of use of LYP steel material in design and retrofit construction is demonstrated through nonlinear time-history analysis as well as seismic response and performance assessment of multi-story structures subjected to earthquake ground motions representing various hazard levels. Ultimately, the fragility methodology is utilized by developing appropriate fragility functions for probabilistic seismic performance and vulnerability assessment of structures designed and retrofitted with conventional and LYP steel infill plates. The results of this study are indicative of relatively lower damage probability and superior seismic performance of LYP steel shear wall systems.