Nonlinear seismic analysis of perforated steel plate shear walls

• A shear strength equation for steel plate shear wall with circular perforations
• Pushover analysis of steel plate shear walls with different perforation patterns
• Seismic behaviour of steel shear walls with circular perforations
• Develop guidelines for design of steel shear walls with circular perforations

The behaviour of unstiffened steel plate shear walls with circular perforations in the infill plates is examined. A shear strength model of the infill plate with multiple circular openings is proposed based on a strip model. Eight perforation patterns in a single storey steel plate shear wall of two different aspect ratios were analyzed using a geometric and material non-linear finite element model to assess the proposed shear strength model. A comparison between the nonlinear pushover analysis and the proposed shear strength equation shows excellent agreement. The proposed model is used to design the boundary columns of three sample four-storey perforated shear walls. A comparison between the predicted design forces in the boundary columns for the selected shear walls with the forces obtained from nonlinear seismic analyses demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed simple model to predict the design forces in the columns.