Perforated metal shear panels as bracing devices of seismic-resistant structures

Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) are innovative systems able to confer to either new or existing structures a significant capacity to resist earthquake and wind loads. Many tests have shown that these devices may exhibit high strength, initial stiffness and ductility, as well as an excellent ability to dissipate energy. When full SPSWs are used as bracing devices of buildings, they may induce excessive stresses in the surrounding main structure where they are inserted, so to require the adoption of large cross-section profiles. For this reason, perforated steel panels, which are weakened by holes aiming at limiting the actions transmitted to the surrounding frame members, represent a valid alternative to full panels. In this work, aiming at showing the advantages of such devices, a FEM model of perforated panels has been calibrated on the basis of recent experimental tests. Subsequently, a parametric FEM analysis on different series of perforated panels, by changing the number and diameter of the holes, the plate thickness and the metal material, has been carried-out. Finally, the achieved numerical results have been used to set up an analytical tool to correctly estimate the strength and stiffness of perforated metal shear panels.